Tamale-Ghana, Aug 23, GNA – Dr Jacob Abudu, the Head of Department, Media and Communication Studies, Tamale Technical University (TaTU), has called on the Government to subsidise sanitary pads to enable girls to stay in school during their menstrual period.
He said it would help to address stigmatisation, improve menstrual hygiene, and ensure that girls participated fully in academic activities.
Dr Abudu made the call at a film and photo exhibition held at the University to enable stakeholders to appreciate some of the challenges confronting girls during their menstrual period.
“The development where girls in rural communities have to miss classes because they are in their menstrual period must be the concern of all stakeholders,” he said.
The exhibition was organised by the Department of Media and Communication Studies in partnership with the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH) and the Northern Regional Chapter of Activista Ghana, both non- governmental organisations.
It was dubbed: “Silent Burden” and formed part of excerpts drawn from a project undertaken by one of the final year students of the Department.
The entire project was entitled: “Investigating the Impact of Media Practice and CSOs Interventions in Menstrual Health Education in Tamale”.
Mr Sulemana Zakaria, whose work was used for the exhibition, underscored the importance of visuals and photos in demonstrating the plight of girls during times of their menstrual period.
He explained that the inability of some to have access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities had forced them to resort to unhygienic practices, which exposed them to several health hazards.
Miss Khadija Abdul-Sammed, the Communications and Gender Desk Officer at SWIDA-GH, said period poverty posed serious health and psychological implications to girls, which could lead to low self-esteem, poor academic performance, and school drop-out.
