Mobile financial services provider Nagad and voluntary organisation Shishuswargo Foundation have distributed sanitary napkins among school girls in Tetulia upazila of Panchagarh. As quality sanitary napkins are not affordable to women in poverty-stricken areas, Nagad and Shishuswargo distributed the materials for free among about 700 students at a ceremony at Kazi Shahabuddin School and College recently, according to a media statement. At the ceremony, slogans were chanted saying no to child marriage and suicide and red cards were shown symbolically to both the menaces. A physician of the local health complex, Monno Akter, briefed the students about health protection. Health specialists offered adult girls various suggestions while distributing sanitary napkins. Read: Nagad offers Tk70 cashback on 'add money' from Islami Bank "As part of social responsibility, we distributed the healthcare materials," Sheikh Aminur Rahman, chief business officer of Nagad, said. Director Kabir Akand said girls of low-income families in the frontier areas hide their health problems relating to menstruation due to a lack of awareness. "They suffer from serious diseases due to only a lack of awareness." Napkin vending machines would be distributed at the schools of district and upazila levels in the future, he added.

Care Bangladesh has started distributing more than 120,000 packs of sanitary napkins among disadvantaged communities affected by COVID-19 from Monday with support from Procter & Gamble (P&G) to ease marginalised women and girls’ difficulties in maintaining regular health and hygiene practices.