Nairobi News

It is a big relief for girls and women who are unable to afford sanitary towels after a Denmark based company announced the production of reusable pads.

With a lifespan of up to four years, the pads are washable and able to protect the user from fungal infections spread by bacteria. What makes them unique is that they are made from plastic bottles collected from the oceans.

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Real Relief company stated that Safepad, a unique and innovatively designed product that offers a safe and infection-free experience to women during menstrual periods, is now available.

“We are facing an ocean plastic crisis. Every minute, every day, the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean. Unless immediate and sustained action is taken globally, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. As plastic remains in the ocean for hundreds of years and may take hundreds of years to degrade, the cumulative amount of plastic in the ocean by 2050 could reach 600 million tonnes — equivalent in weight to more than 3 million blue whales,” Director of Real Relief Trine, Angeline Sig said.

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Globally more than 500 million girls and women do not have the opportunity to manage their period in a hygienic and dignified way. Access to information, education and products to manage one’s period with dignity and pride is essential for the development of girls and women.

“With reference to the UN’s global goals for sustainable development and our goal to put menstrual health and hygiene on the agenda, we hope to improve girls’ and women’s rights and opportunities for quality education, gender equality and access to water and sanitation globally,” Trine Sig said.

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