To say that a woman is God’s special creation is to state the obvious.

That’s because He assigned her the task of carrying and bringing forth children to sustain humanity. For this reason, between the ages of 9 until about 50 years, every female is expected to experience menstruation- the monthly shedding of the lining of the uterus in the form of blood which results from non-occurrence of pregnancy.

Menstruation, also known as ‘period’, is so important that its absence in a female adult is considered abnormal, thus requires medical intervention.

Among adventurous adolescents, the non-occurrence of menstruation is a serious cause for concern. For the male, it signifies a premature ushering into fatherhood with all the tiresome responsibilities. Thus, upon being informed about the none-occurrence of the monthly flow by a girlfriend or lover, his brain gets swamped by questions- how could she get pregnant? But we only did it once? How am I even sure I am responsible for it? What will my mother say when she finds out? And my father? Shieeee I am finished!!!

Same for the adolescent girl- her world comes crushing down. Hers is compounded by the fact that her education, if she is in school, would have to be postponed, at least for 2 years. And her situation becomes even more precarious if the boy decides to disown the pregnancy.

But when the ‘period’ flows, Hurray!!! Not so fast though. A way must be found to manage the flow of blood such that it does not soil one’s self, publicly.

Managing menstruation

Menstruation is a thing for females. So, I can imagine someone reading this piece and asking, “Eric, Wo kɔɔhɔ kɔyɛɛ diɛn?” as in, WKHKYD.

My answer is that as the son of a mother, brother of sisters, husband of a wife, uncle of nieces and father of a daughter, anything that has to do with women concerns me. It is for this reason that I paid attention to the communication around this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day, which was observed on May 28, 2023. From what I read, the day was marked to raise awareness and change negative social norms regarding menstrual health and hygiene. “Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030” was the theme.

I got to know that the day has been set aside as a global advocacy platform that brings stakeholders together to promote good menstrual health and hygiene. This was necessitated by the fact that across the world, poor menstrual hygiene caused by lack of education, persisting taboos and stigma have limited girls’ and women’s access to hygienic menstrual products. I also found that poor sanitation infrastructure undermines the educational opportunities, health and overall social status of women and girls.

The case of Ghana is no different. Growing up, I heard of how my grandmother and mother’s generation used pieces of old discarded cloth (Takoshwɛ-Ga, Ntomago-Akan) to manage what was termed ‘the monthly visitor.’ I guess the poor level of absorbency of the cloth was its main shortcoming. So, over the years, many a Ghanaian woman has followed global trends in this regard and adopted them where appropriate. Hence, I have come across items like toilet rolls, sanitary pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and period underwear which are used by women to manage the flow.

And ooh! I also heard about the supposed use of clay in some parts of the country. An allegation that set social media agog and forced the alleger to go into hiding. Hmm. Why go into hiding for reporting what you saw or heard? Unless you said it out of mischief. Otherwise, the wise thing to do is to apologise. Not for having done any wrong, but for speaking truth which has turned out to be offensive.

Managing menstruation in NADAA’s economy

From what I know, of all the aforementioned items used to manage menstruation, the one whose cost is next to nothing is the old discarded cloth and clay, if the assertion is to be believed. All the others come at some cost. Actually, great cost to some women and girls.

Information I came across during my research indicate that in developing countries such as Ghana, the problem of menstrual hygiene is worsened by the fact that adolescent girls face daunting challenges in managing their menstruation, especially those who are schooling.

The challenges include; lack of clean, safe, functional, private, and gender-specific sanitation facilities in school settings as well as poor access to sanitary materials. The enormity of the difficulties results in many of them absenting themselves from school which affects their academic performance and in worst case scenarios, dropping out of school.

The other main challenge is poverty. Parents of these adolescent girls are unable to afford sanitary pads. For this reason, both mum and daughter resort to unhygienic and ineffective methods such as the old discarded cloth, toilet roll and possibly clay. Consequently, some fall prey to the machinations of men who request them to exchange sex for pads.

Poverty is explained to mean, not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. The poverty factor has therefore become even more germane given the current state of the economy under the ‘able leadership’ of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (NADAA).

As a student of economics, I struggled with the mathematical aspects. So, I am not one to talk about Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation, Consumer Price Index and those ‘huhudious’ arithmetic. Moreso, it is only a ‘Johnnie just come’ to Ghana who can claim ignorance about the almost daily increases in the prices of goods on our markets. The prices of staple foods such as gari, rice, beans, waakye, kenkey and maize have skyrocketed. Even egg, the hitherto cheapest source of protein for children, has become a luxurious food item.  Boiled egg with pepper, which serves as breakfast for many hustlers, is now being sold for GHC3.00 on the streets of Accra.

Taxing the monthly visitor

The cost of sanitary pads has also not been spared. Indeed, it is the case that government has imposed 20 per cent import levy and 15 per cent Value Added Tax on the ‘period’ absorbing pads. This has made it very expensive, thus unaffordable to many menstruating girls and their older versions- women.

From what my wife tells me, the brand that costs the least is now being sold at GHC12.00. The popular ones such as YAZZ and SOFTCARE are going for between GHC20.00 and GHC25.00. The packets of pad contain a maximum of 7 pads. Given that one needs to change the pads at least thrice a day, depending on the level of blood flow, a minimum of 15 pads are required for the 5-day menses.

The implication is that for a comfortable hygienic way of managing menstruation, one requires at least GHC24.00 cedis a month for sanitary pads. This question then hit me- how are the numerous female street hawkers able to manage their menses hygienically? Then the answer came in a news story I watched on TV- women resort to using pampers due to the high cost of sanitary pads.  

One of the ladies who was interviewed said, “Currently, because of the price hikes, the ladies can’t afford the sanitary pads, so they have resorted the use of pampers. That one is quite affordable. It is only GHC1.50. So, with just a little of the pad and more pampers, they are okay.”

Another had this to say, “Because of the high prices of pad, the ladies can’t afford it. I use the pampers because I bleed heavily during my period. Yazz is GHC25. We can’t afford.”

Then this other lady, “Pampers cost only GHc1.50. Seven pieces cost GHc10.50. So, if one can afford the GHc10.50, then she buys it, which is better and quite affordable. Because the sanitary pads are expensive and there are just a few in a pack.”

Clearly, for the kind of work they do, having to spend at least GHC24.00 on sanitary pads per month, takes a huge toll on their finances. The resort to the use of baby diapers, which cost 50% less, is apparently a compulsion to practice economics- efficient use of scarce resources, in an economy that has gone haywire.

But hold on. If the last lady’s assertion is anything to go by, then it means they use one pampers a day. That, definitely, is unhygienic. However, if that is all they can afford, then it is what it is. Very sad if you ask me.

That is why this plea by one of those interviewed is worth granting, “Because of the cost, the customers are not buying pads as they used to. I am pleading with Government to reduce the tax to enable every woman buy them to control her menstrual flow.”

The phenomenon of ‘period poverty’ is explained as the struggle many low-income women and girls face while trying to afford menstrual products. The term also refers to the increased economic vulnerability women and girls face due the financial burden posed by menstrual supplies. From the foregoing, it is evident that many Ghanaian women are ‘period poor.’

The improvisation abilities of the Ghanaian

There is no gainsaying the fact that successive Ghanaian Governments have not had our social welfare at heart. The evidence is in the fact that the Department of Social Welfare of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, is itself in a sorry state. How anyone would expect them to secure the welfare of others is thus unthinkable.

Consequently, it is this unwritten Government policy of ‘each one for himself and God for us all,’ that pushes any Ghanaian who finds him or herself in difficulty to improvise in order to move on. As such, I have seen a teacher in a deprived community engaging in what was described as ‘air writing’ to teach her pupils how to write certain words due to lack of black, not to mention white board. I have also read about a teacher who used his mobile phone to teach ICT lessons in a rural school where computers are non-existent.

Apparently, it is in the spirit of improvisation that the aforementioned traders, recognizing their ‘period poor’ status, resorted to the use of baby diapers. Their action is derived from basic logic: Sanitary pads are used to absorb menstrual blood flow (liquid substance), baby diapers are used to absorb urine (liquid substance). Therefore, if baby diapers can absorb liquid substance, why not use it at 50% less the cost?

Plus, the idea is not alien after all. While researching for this piece, I came across what a panty called period underwear. Thoughtful as the ‘whiteman’ is, he has provided for human convenience in every aspect of life. From what I gathered, period underwear is a reusable underwear that absorbs menstrual flow and protects one from leaks, while keeping the wearer feeling fresh.

They are said to feel lighter when worn compared to sanitary pads. Besides, they can be worn for about 12 hours. Indeed, one can wear them for long distance travel during which access to restrooms is limited. The question that begs for an answer though, is whether the baby diaper has the same absorbent capacity as the scientifically designed period underwear. 

In addition, I learned during lectures on Change Management as part of the Strategic Management course at GIMPA, that the only person who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper. The import of this statement is that a wet diaper is very uncomfortable. If this assertion is anything to go by, it means some of our ladies are being compelled to live with extreme discomfort during the period when they receive the monthly visitor. What inconvenience?

It’s time to go

One of the main sources of revenue for national development is taxes. And my study of economics indicate that it is best to tax goods that have inelastic demand. That is, goods whose demand will remain high even when the prices go up, all things being equal.

It seems to me that in our desperate attempt to find money to address our self-imposed economic challenges, we inadvertently applied the theoretical meaning of inelastic demand to categorise sanitary pads as such, without averting our minds to the proviso- all things being equal. What I am trying to say in simple terms is that yes, the demand for sanitary pads is not supposed to change no matter how the price goes up because girls and women will menstruate every month. But is this the kind of good which has inelastic demand that you must tax?

From what I surmise, not much thinking went into the decision to tax sanitary pads. Not in present day Ghana, where the average person is struggling to cater for the basic necessities of life such as food due to exorbitant prices. A situation that has resulted in some food consumption terminologies such as ‘zero-one-zero’ which means ‘no breakfast, heavy lunch and no supper’, ‘one-one-zero’ meaning ‘breakfast, lunch no supper’ and ‘zero-one-one’ translated as ‘no breakfast, lunch and supper’.

In other words, if the economic theorem about food having inelastic demand has been disproved by some Ghanaian women, due to the prevailing economic hardship, then that of sanitary pad is much, much easier to negate- diapers for sanitary pads is the outcome. Now, if you see a girl/woman with a well-endowed behind, you can’t even be sure if it is not a diaper.

I therefore add my voice to the call for a rethink with regard to the tax on sanitary pads in order to make them affordable to our girls and women. That’s because the sanitary pad serves the purpose of sanitizing our gateway into this world for a smooth passage. Wherefore I say, NADAA, please remove taxes on sanitary pads now.

Ciao - That’s goodbye in Italian.

Let God Lead! Follow Him directly, not through any human.

The writer is the author of two books whose contents share knowledge on how anyone desirous of writing like him can do so. Eric can be reached via email ericayettey@yahoo.co.uk.