KABUL (SW): Half of the girls in Afghanistan do not know anything about the menstrual cycle. For the first time, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Public Health, with the presence of the First Lady of the country, advocated for Menstrual Hygiene Day under the title "Nothing can prevent me from going to school" here in Kabul, on Wednesday.
At the event, Ministry of Education (MoE) officials said that the Ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), conducted a survey in 2010 and 2016 on the level of awareness of girls about the menstrual cycle.
Torpekai Momand, head of female education at the MoE, said the results of the survey show that nearly 50 per cent of female students do not know about the menstrual cycle, and most girls suffer from this and conceive various illnesses.
According to her, in 2010, 37 per cent of female students were absent from school for 1 or 2 days during their periods due to lack of hygienic washrooms in the schools. “Only 12 per cent of girls in the country have access to sanitary pads for their period, and 88 per cent of them do not have access to these sanitary pads due to economic problems”, informed Momand.
A number of female students attending the event said that girls should be educated about menstrual hygiene.
Other participants in the meeting pointed out, the monthly cycles are a natural issue adding that Islam has no limits on this issue, but some people in the community regard this as a shame, which causes the spread of various diseases in women and girls.
On the other hand, Ahmad Jan Naeem, the deputy for policy at the Ministry of Public Health, said that 31 per cent of girls in the country suffer from anemia, but the ministry distributes medicine anemia to some students in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.
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