13% of teen girls in KL can’t afford to buy sanitary pads

 

The women, family and community development ministry says more than 1,000 schools nationwide were involved in the distribution of hygiene kits last year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Studies carried out by the women, family and community development ministry relating to period poverty, involving teenagers and women from the B40 group around the capital, found that 13.1% of them could not afford to buy sanitary pads.

“This pilot study involved teenagers and women aged 13 to 24 in 13 People’s Housing Project (PPR) communities and two social welfare department (JKM) institutions,” deputy minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff said in the Dewan Negara today.

She was replying to a question from T Mohan, who wanted to know the actual situation of period poverty 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 because of financial constraints.

Siti Zailah said the ministry had carried out awareness programmes, distributed hygiene kits to 130,000 teenagers as well as educated teenagers on health issues to overcome the problem.

“The distribution (of hygiene kits) was implemented for teenagers aged between 13 and 17 last year, with 1,105 schools (nationwide) involved,” she said.

Apart from that, her ministry organised programmes to help teenagers manage their hygiene routine as well as physical and mental health, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. - FMT