Student Chief of the Tamale Technical University and Executive Director of Dagbon Advocacy Network, Naa Nurudeen Ibrahim, says his outfit will lead a peaceful demonstration if the government fails to remove the 20% levy on sanitary pads and other menstrual products.
According to him, the high cost of the product is a result of the exorbitant taxes placed on importers and producers.
Addressing journalists at the DASA Palace as part of the Menstrual Hygiene Day Celebration, he revealed that some girls use rags and towels while others absent themselves from class during menstruation.
“Feeding among girls is already a problem, and the cost of the sanitary product has added more hardship”, he bemoaned.
Chief Nurudeen further disputed claims made by Ms. Rita Etorbam Set, founder of the Inspire Today Foundation, that girls in some parts of the northern region use clay as a substitute for sanitary pads due to extreme poverty.
Naa Nurudeen used the opportunity to appeal for sanitary pads for onward distribution to some deprived schools in the northern region.
The call for the removal of taxes on sanitary pads has intensified in recent weeks as many adolescent girls who cannot afford the product get pregnant.
Various stakeholders and concerned citizens, including Members of Parliament for North Tongu, Okudzeto Ablakwa, have all added their voices for the taxes to be removed.
