Procter & Gamble is looking at
increasing its market share in the East African region by focusing on feminine
hygiene education targeting women under 30 years.
The
global consumer goods company currently controls 54 per cent of the sanitary
pad market in Kenya.
The
company hopes that the allocation by the government of KES 300 million for the
2012/2013 financial year to providing sanitary towels to girls from poor
families will provide an avenue to pass feminine hygiene education to Kenyan
girls.
According
to the United Nations Children’s Fund, more than one in ten school girls in
Sub-Saharan Africa skip more than a day when menstruating due to lack of
awareness on how take care of themselves.
Through
the Always School Education programme, Procter & Gamble has been providing
puberty education that empowers girls to stay in school during their period.
The programme also aims to raise the girls’ self-esteem to ensure they are
better placed to further their education and gain employment.
Communications
Manager Salome Mwaura said that the company is providing the school girl with a
free educational programme to equip them with sound knowledge and guidance on
the physical and emotional changes experienced during puberty as well as to
ease any concerns or confusion around this challenging phase.
“We
hope that our programme will empower school girls to stay in school by
providing them with puberty education and sanitary protection during
menstruation,” says Ms. Mwaura.
In
2001, the Rockfeller Foundation funded a study that revealed that over 500,000
girls in Kenya miss at least four days of school every month as they are unable
to afford sanitary pads. This is between 10 -25 % of their time in school thus
creating a disadvantage on them over their boy counterparts. The study which
was carried out by FAWE also found out that girls lack information on puberty
and menstruation and this in turn affects their performance especially during
the onset of adolescence. With this backdrop, P&G pledged to provide 3.2
million free sanitary pads to over 15000 teenage girls from poor families for a
period of two years at a total investment of over $250,000 under the ‘Always
Keeping Girls in School – AKGS. The AKGS program provides girls with three
packets of Always pads during every school team. Using trained nurses, Always
also educates the girls on issues of feminine hygiene puberty and menstrual
protection. Today, the Always Puberty & Hygiene program educates over
300,000 11-13 year olds girls annually. Always Keeping Girls in School
program is a partnership with the Ministry of Education touched lives of over
85,000 girls so far.
In
the East Africa region, Kenya is leading with 35 per cent market penetration
with Uganda and Tanzania having 22 and 16 per cent penetration respectively.
Sanitary pad market penetration is relatively low due to lack of awareness of
affordable pads in the market as well as feminine hygiene education. This means
that many women still use clothing, tissue and cotton wool to manage their
menstrual flow exposing them to health threats.
It
is Procter & Gamble’s hope to reach about 10 million school girls by end of
2020 with the feminine hygiene message.
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