52% of the women in rural areas don't use sanitary pad

Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Vandana Guranani in an interview, revealed 78% of the women use a sanitary pad in the urban areas whereas only 48% use a sanitary pad in rural areas.

New Delhi: Myths and taboos surrounding menstruation need to be broken down effectively before schemes and incentives make their way to make life better for menstruating women, said Vandana Guranani, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, she spoke about how the government was working towards raising awareness among people about menstrual hygiene.

Gurnani revealed, in a survey done by the Government of India in 2015-16, it was found that 78% of the women used a sanitary pad in the urban areas whereas only 48% used a sanitary pad in the rural areas.

She further said, "Due to lack of awareness, women in villages rely on cloth pieces, rags, hay, ash, wood shavings, newspapers or dried leaves and become the victims of infections and diseases."

She said the health department had been constantly trying to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene in the villages. The department was also providing free sanitary pads in schools and colleges, she added.