Destitute young Batswana women might be at risk of contracting secondary infertility later in life because they have limited access to maternal health components such as sanitary supplies.
This might also affect their educational development, according to former nurse and Acting Secretary General of The Botswana National Front (BNF), Shampoo Shadikong, who mentioned cases where girls reportedly miss school for periods of four to five days every month because they cannot afford to buy sanitary towels for their monthly cycles.
Sharing her experiences as a former midwife, Shadikong revealed that some girls may, later on in life, catch infections that would eventually lead to secondary infertility. This is because females from disadvantaged backgrounds typically end up using unsterilized materials, such as old towels to manage their menstrual cycles.
Shadikong said that currently the situation is grim because it is evident that government is failing to provide primary health care for all.
Shadikong made these assertions at a panel discussion held by BNF where the theme was “access to maternal health and hygiene-a privilege or a right?”
Meanwhile, Felistus Motimedi, of BONELA, pointed out that the constitution of Botswana does not recognize or guarantee socio-economic rights and could, therefore, not be held accountable for cases such as health facility standards and unethical conduct of professionals, especially when it concerns malpractice or stigma and discrimination.
“Women who are not well off or crudely poor, face the indignity of going without sanitary pads,” said Motimedi.
She pointed out that the community must be educated about issues of maternal health because we no longer live in the era where subjects about our bodies in public are taboo.
“We need to ensure that we guarantee health as a right and not as a privilege. Of specific interest to BONELA is Article 12 of the ICESCR, which guarantees the “right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health,” said Motimedi.
She added that it also calls for the “improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene; the prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational, and other diseases; and the creation of conditions which could assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.
BNF Publicity Secretary, Moeti Mohwasa, said that the issue of a need for government to provide the poor with sanitary pads should not be looked at as a political issue but as one that concerns Batswana in general.
