Menstruation not disease - Dr Bosomtwe
A medical doctor of the Saint Dominic Catholic Hospital at Akwatia in the Eastern Region, Dr John Bosomtwe, has stated that menstruation is a natural phenomenon that occurs in girls and women monthly.
He, therefore, said the perception that menstruation was a disease was not true and must be discarded.
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‘’From today, all perception about menstruation that it is a disease and in some cases, some of you think it is a taboo should be discarded and your minds cleared,” he said while addressing girls from senior high schools and selected junior high schools from the New Juabeng North and South municipalities in the Eastern Region at Oyoko Methodist Senior High School in Koforidua.
No fears
“God in His own wisdom has created man and woman in different ways and one of the differences is menstruation for females for the sake of fertilisation and creation.
‘’Most of you have that fear in you because of your social orientation that it is a disease and also a taboo to menstruate. From the teachings and explanations that you have today from the medical side, I am very sure that you have changed your minds and that perception thrown away,’’ Dr Bosomtwe emphasised.
Dr Bosomtwe, who is gynaecologist, was speaking as part of this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Day on the theme: ‘’We are committed to creating a Ghana where every girl and woman have access to period-friendly facility’’.
The programme, which was organised by the Regional Directorate of the School Health Education Programme (SHEP), was fully sponsored by Touching the Lives of Girls International, a non-governmental organisation.
Observe changes
He said girls needed to observe the changes that took place in their bodies, stressing that ‘’menstruation is neither a disease nor taboo and you must be comfortable to talk about issues concerning menstruation to trusted persons, be it parents, friends, among others’’.
Dr Bosomtwe said as girls and women, when they were in their monthly menstrual periods, they needed access to safe materials, clean water access to dispose of their used sanitary facilities and above all, education and therefore, advised girls to use safe and hygienic materials during their periods so as not to infect themselves with any virus.
Myths
The Eastern Regional Ghana Education Service Coordinator for SHEP, Godfried Ofoe Caesar, on behalf of the Regional Director, lauded the NGO for its quick response to help the over 500 girls who were served with sanitary pads as well as refreshment of the participants.
“Above all, the education the girls had from the medical doctor is very clear and will go a long way to take away the misconceptions and myths surrounding menstruation,” the regional SHEP coordinator stressed.
He urged the participants from the various schools to go back and disseminate the same message they had heard to their mates for all of them to benefit from the huge expenses the sponsors incurred in putting together the programme.
The municipal directors of education for both the New Juabeng North and South, Beverly Bartels and Mustapha Haruna Appiah, respectively, asked the participants to do away with what they thought were myths about menstruation and take the medical advice seriously.