Bini Dahal

While scrolling through social media, a small leather pouch from Chanel caught my eyes. As it is a luxurious brand, I could not help but imagine it in my hands. But reality was that they were off-limits for me. And now, talking about the hottest issue these days, even menstrual pads have become unaffordable.

Prices of such essential pads are continuously rising. First, these items are mostly imported from neighbouring countries. The government has been levying 13 per cent VAT on them. Thinking it is not enough, it recently thought of increasing the taxes on such pads, leading to hiking their price further up.

The debate on menstrual pads would not have arisen 20 or 30 years ago. Then, young girls and women would use pieces of old clothes for checking the menstruation flow. However, with changing times, women are becoming more conscious of what is good and bad for their health and hygiene. They are even making use of better alternatives like menstrual cups and tampons. But not everyone knows about them and it will take a long time for these alternatives to completely replace menstrual pads.

Products like contraceptives are not levied tax on so that people can easily afford and access them. Yet, menstrual pads seem to be not listed on essential needs. Let’s say this kind of policy changes are being made with environmental concerns in mind. However, the hiked up prices of environmentally-friendly vehicles (much higher than fueled vehicles) just do not add up.

The more I hear and see the different kinds of policies concerning revenues, the more I feel 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are too much difficult for us to achieve. The availability of a single menstrual pad can prevent young girls and women from attaining education in educational institutes. The same lack of pad can cause health problems to women. So, this will pose a challenge to meet SDG Goals 2 and 3. And because the 17 listed Goals are highly integrated with one another, the inability of fulfilling even one goal means weakening of linkages of other Goals as well.

It is the right time for us to remind our policymakers that reproductive health of women is equally important to their sexual health. Revenue collection is very important for the government. But while collecting revenue, we must be sensible enough to foresee its adverse impact on other sectors. This type of regressive policy makes me question if there are enough female policymakers present.

Menstruation is a natural biological process that represents good health and fertility in women. But if sanitation is not maintained, it can invite a serious health problem. Use of menstrual pads can, to an extent, support hygiene, at least better than old pieces of clothes. This is why menstrual products like sanitary pads are highly important.

Now, all we can hope for is the status of menstrual pad as a luxury product to be removed. Everyone should speak up against such impractical policy changes. I at least want to be able to easily afford to buy a menstrual pad, even if I cannot afford Chanel bags.