Twenty-three per cent of young women in India still use cloth instead of sanitary pads during menstruation, reveals the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) on menstrual hygiene by the International Institute of Population Science, Mumbai.
In its fifth edition this year, the survey provides information on the use of hygiene products during menstruation in the 15-24 year-old age group.
The survey indicates that only 65% of women in Gujarat are aware of using hygiene products like sanitary napkins during menstruation. Gujarat ranks third last in the survey, while Bihar seems to be the most backward state in this regard.
Even in 2021, menstruation is a taboo subject and is not discussed openly. This draconian attitude can only result in a lack of awareness on hygiene, and consequently, health complications like vaginal infections.
In Gujarat, only 65.8 per cent young women use hygiene products during periods, of whom 77.6 per cent are from urban areas and 58.6 per cent are from rural areas. Thus, about 50 per cent young women in rural areas are not yet aware of the need to use hygienic products during periods.
Compared to NFHS-4 across the state, survey 5 has seen an increase of 5% in the usage of hygiene products. According to NFHS-4, only 60.3 young women in Gujarat were aware of menstrual hygiene products.
Goa ranks first in the NFHS-5 survey on menstrual hygiene, with 97 per cent, followed by Kerala with 93 per cent, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana with 92 per cent, Mizoram with 90 per cent, Sikkim with 86 per cent, Andhra Pradesh with 85 per cent, Maharashtra with 85 per cent and Karnataka with 84 per cent. West Bengal is ranked eighth with 83 per cent, Nagaland at 80 per cent, Gujarat and Assam at 66 per cent, Meghalaya at 65 per cent and Bihar at 59.
The 2015-16 survey had indicated that only 57.6 per cent of young women in India used sanitary napkins. Another 2016 report revealed an acute absence of menstrual hygiene awareness or education among young women, with a mind-boggling 71% of adolescent girls having no information about menstruation before it actually began. Girls were not made aware of this natural process either in schools or at home.
According to a 2014 report, an estimated 23 million girls dropped out of school as soon as their menstrual cycles began. According to a UNICEF report, an estimated 75 per cent of girls and women in Tamil Nadu were unaware of menstrual hygiene, compared to 65 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. In Rajasthan and West Bengal, 50 per cent of young women had no idea of this natural process.
A survey conducted by the Ministry of Education in 2015 found that teachers in 65 per cent of schools in rural India did not talk to students about menstrual cycles in women or menstrual hygiene. According to a 2015 survey, only 2-3% of women in rural areas used sanitary napkins. Delivering sanitary napkins to villages had still remained a serious issue.
