Whisper pledges to educate 5 crore girls about menstruation by 2022
As a part of their pledge, Whisper will reach out to more than 40,000 schools. It claims to have already educated more than 2.5 crore girls since 1995.
According to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 by the Government of India, just 48 percent of rural women aged between 15 and 24 practice safe menstrual hygiene compared to 78 percent of urban women.
To improve these numbers, Feminine hygiene product company Whisper has pledged to reach five crore girls across India with its 'Mother Daughter Menstrual Health and Hygiene Programme' by the end of 2022. The pledge was made at the 'Need to Break Silence and Build Awareness' event by ASSOCHAM.
As a part of this pledge, Whisper will now be reaching out to more than 40,000 schools to increase awareness about menstrual hygiene. The brand claims to have already educated over 2.5 crore girls about menstrual hygiene since its inception in 1995.
Speaking at the event, Chetna Soni, Associate Direction and Country Leader, Feminine Care of P&G, said,
"As an industry, our focus should be to increase awareness and adoption of good quality and safe menstrual hygiene. Our pledge to extend the reach of our Menstrual Health and Hygiene Program to educate over five crore adolescent girls about menstrual hygiene by 2022 is in line with this vision."
Chetna also highlighted the importance of fighting taboos and societal restrictions surrounding menstruation, and empowering girls to speak up. She also mentioned the 'Touch The Pickle' campaign back 2014, which encouraged and enabled women to talk about and confront the stigma around menstruation.
"In the years following that campaign, we have seen a heartening increase in conversations around the importance of healthy menstrual hygiene across the board - be it from the Government, social organisations and NGOs, or from Bollywood influencers," Chetna added.
Vandana Gurnani, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the Government of India, was the chief guest at the event. Padma Shri awardee and renowned classical dancer and activist, Geeta Chandran, and Foroogh Foyouzat from UNICEF India among other senior representatives working towards menstrual hygiene education also attended the event. Suman and Sneha, whose true story was featured in the Oscar winning documentary, ‘Period: End of Sentence’, were special guests.
Chetna also reflected on how the menstrual hygiene industry has grown over the years. According to a report by IMARC Group, the Indian sanitary napkin industry had reached a market value of over $511.5 million in 2018, and is expected to hit $992.8 million by 2024.
"I see this as a reassurance that while the progress has been gradual, all these efforts are leading up to an incredible change on an everyday basis. We will continue working towards 100 percent menstrual hygiene awareness and access in India," she concluded.
