Follow Us on Google
From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi, Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri,
Wife of Kebbi Governor, Hajiya Nafisa Idris, has counselled female students in the state to take care of their menstrual hygiene very seriously.
Idris stated this on Saturday while sensitising female students at Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Argungu Local Government Area of the state as part of the activities marking the 2024 Menstrual Hygiene Day.
She commended her husband, Governor Nasir Idris, for his efforts in promoting the healthcare service and his support in the promotion of menstrual hygiene in the state.
“Hygiene is part and parcel of Islamic religion, and is our faith. Muslims are encouraged to maintain personal hygiene by taking regular baths, washing hands before and after meals, and trimming nails and hair.
“The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stressed the importance of personal hygiene, saying, “Cleanliness is next to godliness. We know how germs spread from our very own hands to our bodies as well as to other people,” she said.
Idris further pledged her unwavering support to improve menstrual hygiene, sexual and reproductive health services in the state. “My Nafisa Nasir Charity Development Foundation (NANAS) is committed to advancing the health and rights of the girl child,” she added.
In Borno State, a Public Health expert and Programme Manager, Hygiene Promotions for the Catholic Relief Services, Dr Timothy Daret, called on the men folk to be involved in menstrual hygiene and health management.
He gave the charge at an event organized in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, weekend, to mark the 2024 Menstrual Hygiene Day. In a paper presentation titled ‘Let the Men Menstruate,” Daret urged men to support women and girls to manage their menstruation effectively.
He said research had shown that men and boys influenced women and girl’s experiences of menstrual hygiene management. According to him, men and boys can help in creating conducive environment by trying to support a clean facility and access of women, ladies and girls to these facilities as well as privacy which they require to manage their menstruation.
By so doing, he said, men would help to break barrier, stigma and gender inequality created by a lack of education and awareness of menstrual health.
He noted that menstruation was still being subjected to a chain of societal, cultural and religious constraints, adding that such situation posed a significant impediment to proper menstrual hygiene management especially in the northeast affected by Boko Haram violence.
He said girls especially in rural areas and IDP camps were often unprepared and unaware of menstruation.
Similarly, in Lagos State, a member representing Oshodi – Isolo, Constituency II, Honourable Okey – Joe Onuakalusi, used the occasion to distribute sanitary pads to female students at Ansarudeen College, Isolo; Jeed Trinity College Ilasamaja; and Livingspring Hi-Grade College, all in his constituency.
The sensitization campaign tagged: ‘PAD- UP-OUR-GIRLS’, focused on instructive lectures, road walks as well as sharing of Souvenirs for the young girls at the instance of Foundation of HOJ Foundation.
