Childfund india - Latest News Update, Information, Photos & Videos on Childfund india at Lokmat Times

New Delhi, Feb 16 The response to Covid-19 pandemic has not really been gender-neutral. Across India, in the past one year, periods did not stop for the pandemic but access to period products and menstrual hygiene did, especially for socioeconomically challenged families.Lack of gender-sensitive response in the lockdown, and issues of accessibility, affordability and awareness have further magnified it, Pratibha Pandey, Senior Health Specialist, ChildFund India tells life.Access scarcityAccess to safe menstrual products and sanitation were overlooked during the lockdown, as girls and women from the rural areas who relied on free or subsidized products from government centers or NGOs, had little or no access to the same."Many of migrant workers, who walked several miles from the cities where they worked, to their native villages were women. Some of these women had to go days on the national highways, menstruating with only a light cloth to manage the same. They had no access to hygiene products or washrooms and their plight was truly horrifying. Medical shops in densely populated urban areas with low-income families reported absence of affordable sanitary products," she says."Period poverty is a very real concept in India. According to a March 2020 report of the Ministry of Health, majority of menstruating females in India are largely dependent on unsafe sanitary materials like rags, cloth, hay, sand, and ash as their only alternatives," Pandey says.The lockdown forced many girls and women to resort to the age-old unhygienic practice of using a cloth during menses. "A shocking 84 per cent of women had restricted or no access to sanitary napkins. Only after intervention from several groups championing the cause of women, Ajay Bhalla, the Home Secretary to India instructed the states to add sanitary napkins to the list of essential items on the March 29, 2020( With inputs from IANS )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Home

City

Latest News

Cricket

LT Premium

National

International

Maharashtra

Opinions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Nagpur

Entertainment

Photos

Business

Technology

Sports

Lifestyle

Social Viral

Lokmat Games

Health

Lok Sabha Election 2024

Heatwave In India

Mumbai Water Cut

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election

IPL 2024

Salman Khan

Childfund IndiaFOLLOW

Childfund india, Latest News

National :Covid pandemic has put India's 'End TB' progress at risk

New Delhi, March 24 Though the government is committed to making India Tuberculosis-free by 2025, the 'END TB' ... ...

Lifestyle :How COVID-19 impacted menstrual hygiene in India's rural and semi-urban regions

New Delhi, Feb 16 The response to Covid-19 pandemic has not really been gender-neutral. Across India, in the ... ...