A scientist at International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) has won a grand prize for her proposed innovation in developing a machine to produce jute cellulose-based sanitary pads for sustainable menstrual health.

According to a statement posted by icddr,b on its official Facebook page, Farhana Sultana, Assistant Scientist at icddr,b has won the prize at the 4th Annual Innovations Pitch Competition on ‘A Healthier Global Community Addressing the Twin Challenges of Pandemic Preparedness and Impact of Climate Change.’

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Farhana manually developed and piloted the jute cellulose-based disposable pad in collaboration with Dr Mubarak Ahmed Khan, scientific advisor at Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation.

This pad is an alternative solution for menstrual health and hygiene for women and girls in Bangladesh. However, jute cellulose is a new material and currently, there is no such machine available in the country to manufacture such pads which is a barrier to scalability.

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The competition organised by the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), has awarded US$5,000 to Farhana. Moreover, she will be a judge for the 5th Annual Innovations Pitch Competition to be held in 2022.

Scientist Farhana will conduct an industrial trial for mass production, develop a business plan, and explore options for further scale-up and waste management with the money won from the award, stated in the icddr,b Facebook post.

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The industrial trial will also assess the compatibility, compressibility and stretchability of the pad, and conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis with other commercially available disposable sanitary pads, it added.