Menstrual health and hygiene stakeholders have been advised to conduct further research before supporting reusable sanitary pads.
According to the Head of Medical Devices at the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Rowland Sefakor, some of the fabrics used to make these pads contain chemicals that threaten users.
He said this while speaking at the 2023 Period Summit held in Accra as part of the 2023 World Menstrual Hygiene Day celebrations.
Mr Sefakor said it was important for all stakeholders to consider the quality of cloth used in production while advocating for reusable pads.
The reusable sanitary pads are made of materials that can absorb menstrual blood for four hours.
“In most cases, these cloths do not have the potency to absorb, and when you wash, it gives out colour, and these dyes are sometimes very harmful,” he said.
He also stated that, despite the advocacy for reusable sanitary pads, no standards had been established for them by the FDA.
As a result, he recommended that stakeholders reduce their use of reusable clothes and conduct additional research on the product’s quality.
In efforts to provide girls with clean and affordable menstrual hygiene products, most non-governmental organisations have made it an objective to introduce washable and reusable sanitary pads for school-going adolescent girls.
These organisations have projects centred on teaching young girls how to use local fabrics to sew pads that could be reused to reduce the financial burden on the girls and their parents.