Online Reporter
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE today held its first-ever Menstrual Health Symposium, which seeks to advance standards, policy reform and market development to improve access to safe, quality and affordable menstrual products for girls and women across the country.
Officially opening the two-day symposium in Harare, Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said menstrual health was a matter of health, dignity, education and economic empowerment.
She said many girls and women, particularly in rural communities, still lack access to affordable menstrual products and are forced to use unsafe alternatives, exposing them to infections, discomfort and indignity.
“Across Zimbabwe, many girls and women still lack access to affordable menstrual products, forcing them to rely on unsafe, unhygienic alternatives such as cloth, tissue paper, and other improvised materials,” she said.
“This reality exposes them to discomfort, infections, and indignity, fundamentally undermining their ability to manage their periods safely and with confidence.”
The symposium is expected to produce recommendations on policy reform, quality standards, market development and resource mobilisation to ensure no girl misses school or woman is denied opportunities because of a lack of menstrual products.
