The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) proudly joins the newly formed Sustainable Menstruation Coalition, a strategic alliance established to empower women and girls around the world with access to appropriate sustainable menstrual products, as a founding civil society partner. Dr. Padmini Murthy will be representing AMWA on this distinguished international panel. The Sustainable Menstruation Coalition will formally launch on March 8, International Women’s Day.
The work of the coalition will be announced to the global community with a special event.
Sustainable Menstruation Coalition: Towards Ending Period Poverty
February 15 @ 3-5 pm local time at the Women’s Pavillion in Dubai and accessed virtually
The Dire Need for Access to Menstrual Products
The World Bank estimates that more than 500 million women and girls experience period poverty. In many communities, girls drop out of school and women cannot work because they do not have access to menstrual products. “Menstrual equity is crucial in upholding women’s dignity and human rights,” states Padmini Murthy, MD, MPH, MS, FAMWA, FRSPH, AMWA’s Global Health Lead and Professor/Global Heath Director at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY. Ensuring access to sustainable products will not only enable them to succeed but also reduce the impact on the environment.
Even in the US, period poverty is a reality. “While the challenges that menstruating women face may vary from country to country, at heart, the issues of access to menstrual products, health equity, human dignity, and environmental impact are universal – and they need to be addressed on a global level,” says Eliza Chin, MD, MPH, MACP, FAMWA, AMWA Executive Director.
The coalition was cofounded by TrueFootprint and MyyTake and will be managed by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) India. AMWA is joined by founding civil society partners, Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion (CSEI), Tata Trusts, Vaada Na Todo Abhiyan, and Village Ways Charitable Trust. These efforts will focus initially in India, where the need is great, and then broaden to other countries.
Sources:
The World Bank, 2018. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/05/25/menstrual–hygiene–management. Accessed 29 Jan 2020
The Sustainable Menstruation Coalition. sustainablemenstruationcoalition.com (accessed February 22, 2022)
