News Nation Logo

Health workers in Maharashtra villages collecting women's used sanitary pads, here's why

It May Sound Weird That In A Country Where Menstruation Is Considered As A Taboo, Health Workers Are Collecting Women's Used Sanitary Pads. But It's True.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Shashikant Sharma | Updated on: 09 Sep 2017, 01:26:48 PM
Why health workers in Maha villages collecting used sanitary pads?

New Delhi:

It may sound weird that in a country where menstruation is considered as a Taboo, health workers are collecting women's used sanitary pads. But it's true.

Health workers in villages of Maharashtra collected used menstruation pads in order to detect cervical cancer in women.

According to a report published by the BBC, researchers from the Tata Memorial Centre and National Institue for Research in Reproductive Health in India believe they could diagnose the presence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) by analysing these used sanitary pads.

Over one-third of the world's total cervical cancer patients are from India and HPV virus is one of the main causes of this deadly disease.

Personal hygiene is a big challenge in India as more than 90 percent women in rural areas don't use commercial sanitary products instead they use homemade clothes as menstruation pads.

Suggested Read | Lack of knowledge on HIV/AIDS a hurdle in achieving target of zero-infection by 2020: NACO Deputy Director General

Due to the hesitation, lack of adequate infrastructure in rural areas and burdening costs, most Indian women don't go for cervical cancer check up.

"The major roadblock to large scale implementation of cervical cancer screening programme is the low participation by the women at risk," the BBC quoted Dr Atul Budukh, lead researcher from the Tata Memorial Centre as saying.

"It is an easy and convenient way," Dr Budukh said.

More than 500 women of the age group 30 to 50 without any history of cancer, who were menstruating regularly were asked to store their first-day menstrual cloth in a zip lock bag provided by researchers. 

The collected samples were kept at -20C and sent to the Tata Memorial research centre in a dry ice container for HPV screening.

For all the Latest Lifestyle News, Health & Fitness News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

First Published : 09 Sep 2017, 01:26:01 PM

Related Tags:

Videos