Menstrual hygiene management and WASH

Abstract

Introduction In recent years, the specific challenges related to menstrual hygiene management (MHM) for adolescent girls and women in low-resource contexts have been increasingly documented and researched. A recent systematic review of health and social effects of MHM found that reproductive tract infections related to MHM are plausible, but that intensity and type of infection are not clear. Additionally, the routes of transmission are not well understood, including what the role of inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) may be (Sumpter and Torondel, 2013). Nonetheless, WASH facilities are critical for women and girls to manage menses with dignity, and there is growing attention to the importance of integrating MHM into WASH guidelines. In 2012, the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP)for Water Supply and Sanitation of the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) developed a working definition for MHM as part of an effort to define goals, targets and indicators for post-2015 global monitoring of WASH:Women and adolescent girls are using a clean menstrual management material to absorb or collect menstrual blood, that can be changed in privacy as often as necessary for the duration of a menstrual period, using soap and water for washing the body as required, and having access to facilities to dispose of used menstrual management materials.