NRHJN Takes Sensitization Campaign on Menstrual Hygiene to Secondary Schools, Distributes Sanitary Pads
By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
To commemorate World Menstrual Hygiene Day, the Network of Reproductive Health Journalists, Nigeria (NRHJN) have carried out sensitization campaigns to secondary schools in some states with key messages to female students on how to ensure good hygiene during their menstrual period.
Speaking at Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior Secondary School, Ojodu in Lagos, the national president of NRHJN Mrs. Yinka Shokunbi said the network was joining the advocacy campaign on World Menstrual Hygiene Day for the first time to demonstrate it’s commitment and give visibility on whole essence of reproductive health and wellbeing of womanhood.
Shokunbi explained that NRHJN understands that womanhood starts to manifest from puberty when girls begins to menstruate and develop other vital reproductive organs and hence the need to join in advocating for investment in that crucial period.
“The choice of Babs Fafunwa Senior Secondary School was simply because of its strategic location in the network’s catchment area as well as the need to encourage older girls who are often forgotten, because it is believed that they are older bracket of teenagers/adolescents but are still vulnerable to fall victims of taboos, myths and mistakes from poor menstrual hygiene”, said Shokunbi.
She urged all the girls to take time to invest in their menstrual health by observing cleanliness all the time to avoid infections from poor hygiene which could lead to infertility.
The national president also admonished the girls to always showcase the very essence of womanhood so that they could continue to stand tall with their peers anywhere in the world.
Our correspondent reports that similar campaigns were carried out in Niger, Kano and Ondo states, where Niger State chapter of NRHJN, in collaboration with two other partners -Media Mentors Network and Succeeding Against All Odds, distributed free sanitary pads to female students.