20 Jul 2021|Noida | Amity University, Noida ( Online )
Amity organizes webinar on Sustainable Menstruation
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To create an awareness amongst students about menstruation, Amity Institute of Public Health organized a webinar on the Topic “Sustainable Menstruation” in which Dr. Aarushi Kehar Malhotra, Senior Manager, research, advocacy and wellness, Sirona Hygiene Foundation and Dr. Diksha, Medical Director, Sirona Hygiene Foundation shared their ideas.
Welcoming the guests, Dr. Rajiv Janardhan, Director, Amity Institute of Public Health, said that menstruation is such a topic where people hesitate to discuss it even today, but to protect the health of women, it is necessary to have proper and correct information in this context. This webinar has been organized to make the students aware of the problems of menstruation and the progress being made in this field for the protection of women's health.
Dr. Aarushi Kehar Malhotra stated sustainable menstruation has been linked to the practice of using eco-friendly alternatives to menstrual products that do not encourage product waste. This also encourages the reuse of products such as cloth pads, menstrual cups, biodegradable sanitary pads and many other products that reduce waste. Dr Malhotra said that 43 million tons of waste is generated in the country every year, there are about 355 million menstruators in the country and 36 % use sanitary pads. Every year about 7 billion sanitary napkins are thrown into the landfill and 01 sanitary napkin takes about 500 to 800 years to be destroyed, in addition, 01 sanitary napkin is equivalent to about 4 plastic bags. Styrene, chloromethane, acetone and chloroethane are used in many sanitary pads which are not written on the label. The need of the hour is to make menstruation trash free, cash free and rash free.
Dr. Diksha said the first prototype of the menstrual cup was patented in the USA in the 1860s and 1870s. The first modern menstrual cup, similar to today's cup, was invented by American artist Leona Chalmers in 1937. He patented the design of a cup made of latex rubber. Talking about other latex rubber cups developed in 1987 and the first silicone menstrual cups in 2001, Dr. Diksha said that today there are cups made in various designs, sizes and materials. She explained about the anatomy of the cup including its physiology, how to use and safety, sterilizing techniques and thus the company is working towards reduction of waste in the Country.