Lower the Cost of Sanitary Towels, Lobby Urges the Government

Dial A Pad is petitioning the government to lower the cost of pads from Sh 100 to Sh.50.

This, the organization said, will help in saving many girls and women from period shame that can be occasioned by this price hick.

Although Kenya has made tremendous gains over the years in a bid to end period poverty, the organization noted, a lot more still needs to be done.

For instant, in 2004 the government exempted sanitary towels from VAT which made pads more accessible to women and girls in the country.

In addition, they said, the Education Act Bill passed into law in 2016 mandated the government to supply 4 million school-going girls with sanitary towels

In 2020, they added, Kenya Launched its first-ever national stand-alone Menstrual Health Management (MHM) policy.

However, they said the gains made are being threatened by the high cost of sanitary towels whose prices have doubled to Sh100.

Toward this end, they said complementing government efforts to provide free sanitary towels will be threatened as most people will not be able to donate as they previously did.

‘It would be difficult for a shopper at the supermarket to donate two packets of pads (Sh200) now as opposed to previous times when they would cost Sh100,’ they said.

Therefore, they are calling upon the government to offer relevant subsidies to pad manufacturers to allow the cost of sanitary towels to revert to the initial Sh50.