Studies carried out by the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development, involving teenagers and women from the B40 group around the capital, found 13.1 percent cannot afford to buy sanitary pads.
“This pilot study involved teenagers and women aged 13 to 24 in 13 People’s Housing Project communities and two Social Welfare Department institutions,” said Deputy Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.
She was speaking during the question and answer session in Parliament today.
She was replying to a question from Senator T Mohan, who wanted to know the actual situation of period poverty in the country as well as the government’s long-term plans to tackle the problem.
Period poverty refers to a situation where the girls or their families cannot afford to buy sanitary pads due to financial constraints. The study involved teen girls and women from the bottom 40 percent of income earners (B40) group.
To overcome the problem, Siti Zailah said her ministry held awareness programmes, distributed hygiene kits to 130,000 teenagers, and educated teenagers on health issues.
“The distribution (of hygiene kits) was implemented for teenagers aged between 13 and 17 last year through the schools, with 1,105 schools (nationwide) involved,” she said.
She said the ministry also held programmes to help teenagers manage their hygiene routines as well as physical and mental health, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Bernama
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.