MANGALURU: Department of Health Research (DHR) under the ministry of health and family welfare has been advised to conduct research on safety, scalability, efficacy, cost-effectiveness of biodegradable products being manufactured in the menstrual hygiene space, a top official said at an Assocham event in New Delhi.
“A lot of efforts are happening in the area of providing biodegradable sanitary napkins and recyclable and alternative products, with various small manufacturers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) coming up with such products using banana fibre, jute fibre, recyclable cloth based napkins, menstrual cups,” said Vandana Gurnani, joint secretary, ministry of health and family welfare while addressing an Assocham conference on menstrual hygiene-Need to break the silence and build awareness.
“We have requested our department of health research, which advises us on technical issues to conduct small research and to advise us not only on the safety but also efficacy, cost effectiveness and also scalability of these products, this is some work in progress,” said Gurnani while highlighting the government’s perspective.
Noting that an estimated that 1.13 lakh tonne of menstrual waste is generated annually in India, she said, “Given, there are lot of experiments in terms of using biodegradable products, a lot more needs to be done in terms of research and development to have more efficacious, environment-friendly and scalable products.”
Talking about the progress in private sector, she said that while a lot has happened in terms of availability but in terms of affordability as well as reach in the deeper, tribal and remote parts of the country, a lot more needs to be done.