Anambra First Lady unveils pad bank to promote menstrual health… 

The wife of Anambra State Governor, Nonye Soludo, has launched a Pad Bank in Anambra schools to promote menstrual health and mark this year’s International Day of the Girl Child.

The event held at the Governor’s Lodge in Awka, on Wednesday, was attended by female pupils from schools across the state alongside their guiding councillors and ambassadors.

It was done under the ‘Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo initiative’ and also featured lectures on girls’ child rights and sexuality, girls’ child life skill training, innovative career/ digital skills and drama presentation.

Delivering her address during the event, Soludo noted that celebrating this year’s International Day of the Girl Child was a clear understanding of the challenges before girls in their pursuit of a safe and great future.

She said, “We are also looking at the possibility out there for the girls and how they can take hold of them. But, the truth is that these opportunities are limited and distorted largely because of so many household obstacles.

“Every girl has the fundamental right to live and succeed. Once we deny them these rights, we have taken a backward step that will ultimately have damaging effects on our society.

“One of the significant goals of our crusade of ‘Healthy living with Nonye Soludo’ is to explore smart avenues and rekindle the consciousness of self-belief and knowledge of the individual potential of our girls.

The governor’s wife also pointed out that the ‘Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo’ has taken a step further to promote menstrual hygiene in Secondary Schools where Healthy Living Club is domiciled, adding that arrangements have been concluded to provide sanitary pad banks in over 400 secondary schools across Anambra State where their clubs are currently operating.

She disclosed that the statistics of girls and women in their reproductive age bracket with access to basic menstrual requirements are begging for better attention, stressing that the distribution of sanitary pads is a way of paying attention to that.

She assured of an adequate commitment to promoting and protecting the fundamental objectives of right health, stating that they want to achieve a society that opens up a platform of equal aspiration for every gender.