A Kenyan organisation has started a petition demanding that the government reduces the cost of sanitary pads to Sh50.
Dial A Pad says that although Kenya has made tremendous gains over the years in a bid to end period poverty, a lot more still needs to be done.
"Kenya in recent years has had a lot of gains in matters menstrual hygiene management, including the decision to exempt sanitary towels from VAT in 2004," they said.
This was to make pads more accessible to women and girls in the country.
"In 2016, we celebrated the Education Act Bill, being passed into law that mandated the government to supply 4 million school-going girls with sanitary towels," they said.
In 2020, they added, Kenya Launched its first-ever national stand-alone Menstrual Health Management (MHM) policy.
"However, a lot more still needs to be done. We are calling for a reduction in the prices of sanitary towels," they said.
They said that together with other stakeholders, Community-based organisations and NGOs complement the government's endeavor to provide free sanitary towels to all Kenyan school-going girls.
"We hold pad drives, and other programs that channel donations to support the girls"
"However, these great strides we have made as a country are being threatened by the increased cost of sanitary towels," they said.
The current inflation has resulted in a rise in most commodities such as food including Unga, rice and Cooking oil.
"It has also touched on the cost of sanitary towels which has doubled from Sh50 a pack to up to Sh100, greatly impeding our concerted efforts to end period poverty and school absenteeism for girls during their period," they said.
For instance, they said, it would be difficult for a shopper at the supermarket to donate two packets of pads(Sh200) now as opposed to previous times when they would cost Sh100.
"Our call to action to President William Ruto is to offer relevant subsidies to pad manufacturers in Kenya to allow the cost of sanitary towels to revert to the initial Sh50," they concluded.
