The Sanaahene of Agona Duakwa , Nana Kweku Kumi I, has appealed to the government to reconsider the huge taxes on sanitary pads and make it tax-free to reduce the struggles many schoolgirls endure to purchase the products.
According to the Sanaahene, as a woman, she believed sanitary pads should not be considered as luxury as the tax law had rendered it, but rather as inevitable products essentially being used by womanhood.
Nana Kumi was addressing school children, chiefs, teachers and Queen mothers at a breast cancer and menstrual awareness campaign at Kenyakor in the Agona East District of the Central Region.
She said it was not a taboo for a woman created by God to have her menstrual period, which was a natural phenomenon, saying parents of the girl-child must understand this.
According to the Sanaahene, due to menstruation, some schoolgirls had fallen into the hands of some wicked men or boys who sexually molest them with promises of buying them sanitary pads.
The Sanaahene noted that majority of the girls in Junior High School (JHS) could not afford to buy the pads due to the high cost of the product because of the high taxes charged by the government.
She therefore made an appeal to the government to heed to the calls by the numerous advocacy groups and remove the tax on sanitary pads.
On breast cancer, she said the month of October every year was celebrated to create awareness to draw the attention of women to the disease and urged all women to go for regular checks on their breasts to avoid any calamity.
She said some 2.3 million women worldwide were diagnosed with the disease annually with only a few of them surviving due to complications.
Rev Victor K. Koblah, CEO of Compassion Outreach Organisation, a Ho based NGO in the Volta region, added his voice to appeals to the government to remove the taxes on sanitary pad.
He called on the girls not to engage in premarital sex to avoid teenage pregnancy and rather focus on their studies to enable them to become successful adults in future.
Rev Koblah commended the Sanaahene of Duakwa for her efforts to champion the course of schoolgirls to help stem the difficulties some of them went through to get pads during their menses.
He assured that the NGO would continue to support the Sanaahene with sanitary pads and other materials to enable her reach out to many schoolgirls as much as she could, in the Agona East District.
Mrs Irene Mensah, a public Health Nurse, urged women to check their breasts frequently at health facilities for early detection and quick treatment.
She urged women to try as much as possible to avoid risk factors such as excessive drinking, unprescribed usage of medicines and many others that put them at high risk of getting breast cancer.
The Public Health Nurse emphasised that currently, no cure had been found for breast cancer, but the disease could be managed by medical doctors when reported earlier.
The Sanaahene distributed sanitary pads to more than 200 girls who thronged the programme as part of the efforts to support them to alleviate their sufferings.
Nana Kweku Prah V, Nifahene of Duakwa who chaired the function, praised Sanaahene for her tireless efforts to champion the good course of girl-child education at Duakwa and other towns to give them hope.
He assured that the Duakwahene, Nana Kojo Amoakwa V and his entire chiefs would also rally support for Sanaahene to get more aid to assist in the education and development of the girl-child in the district.
