Hohoe — A three-day stakeholders meeting to deliberate on challenges and the stigma girls pass through during their menstrual periods has been held at Hohoe in the Volta Region.
It was organised by the Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute in the United States of America in collaboration with Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) at Ho.
The stakeholder meeting, which forms part of activities marking World Menstrual Day celebration, saw girls and boys from six primary schools, four Junior High Schools (JHS), churches, civil society groups, parents and teachers from the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region attended the meeting.
A Research Fellow, and lecturer at the Hohoe campus of UHAS, Dr Sitsofe Gbogbo, said the stakeholder meeting formed part of activities towards a research to identify problems associated with menstrual period of adolescent girls, and to address them with the aim of bringing to an end the stigma associated with menstrual period.
Dr Gbogbo, who is also the Principal Research holder on the topic "Stigma during menstrual period of adolescent girls" said, the stakeholder meeting formed part of preparations towards a proposed research into the problem, which proposal was with the Ministry of Health and awaiting approval.
She explained that efforts being made by the two institutions to conduct research into stigma during the menstrual period of adolescent girls, called for collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to remove stigma associated with menstruation, which she said should be understood as a natural development phenomenon in adolescent girls.
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A senior lecturer at the Department of Family and Community Health (FCH), Dr Faith Agbozo, commended Dr Gbogbo and the two institutions for the move to carry out a research into stigma associated with menstrual period of girls, with the objective of bringing to an end stigma that adolescent girls suffered during their periods.
Dr Agbozo, observed that stigma during menstrual period of adolescent girls should be regarded as a development challenge because most girls did not go to school during the period of menstruation, saying stigma during menstruation also made adolescent girls to lose confidence among themselves, which must be brought to an end.
According to Dr Agbozo, it was the responsibility of parents to provide pads for their adolescent girls during their menstrual period, and should not encourage them to use toilet rolls during such times because the usage of toilet rolls could lead to infection.
