News
Ghana Girl Guides calls for an increase in access to menstrual products
Madam Apprey addressing the girls
The Kokrobite chapter of the Ghana Girl Guides Association (GGGA) is advocating for an increase in access to menstrual products for girls in schools across the country to help promote menstrual hygiene among them.
Leader of the volunteeringgroup, Madam Paulyn Apprey said educating young girls on the dangers of not practicing menstrual hygiene alone was not enough as many girls resort to the use of unhygienic materials during their menstrual cycles, which increases their risks of contracting infections.
She made the call over the weekend at an event to commemorate the world menstrual hygiene day at the Sunbeam Foundation School at Kokrobite in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, organized by her outfit.
More than 200 schoolgirls from selected schools within the area were in attendance.
According to Madam Apprey, it was very necessary for measures to be put in place at all cost, to ensure girls do not skip school because they cannot not afford sanitary products for use during their menstrual cycles.
“Imagine girls missing classes four or five days each month all because they cannot afford to get themselves sanitary pads? This, if not checked will greatly affect their academic performance.”
“There are many young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds so supporting such children with free sanitary pads each month will go along way to boost their confidence and make them feel comfortable coming to school, no matter the time of the month,” she stressed.
To this end, she revealed that her outfit embarked on a project to provide Emergency Prepared Packs (EPP) containing sanitary pads, tissues and hand sanitisers for distribution to some school purposely to be given to girls on their periods each month at no cost.
The initiative, she said had increased the enrollment of girls in the schools where such sanitary products had been made available, adding that punctuality of girls in the schools had also improved significantly.
Madam Apprey therefore called on benevolent individuals and institutions to support the good cause “to ensure our girls do not miss school just because they cannot afford sanitary pad.”
A senior health educator at the public health unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Madam Eunice Nyankahsaid making girls familiar with menstrual hygiene practices was very necessary because proper hygiene practice during menstruation helps prevent bacteria growth, urinary tract infections and other reproductive health issues.
Explaining, she noted that educating girls about menstrual hygiene makes them understand how to take good care of themselves during their menstrual cycles and avoid potential health risks.
She also indicated that menstrual hygiene education goes a long way in boosting confidence of girls, as menstruation in some jurisdictions, is accompanied by feeling of shame and low self-esteem.
She also called on government to as a matter of urgency scrap taxes on menstrual products to make them affordable.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will undertake a nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination exercise in schools from October to December 2026 to protect eligible girls against cervical cancer and other HPV related diseases.
The exercise, organised in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and its partners through the School Health Education Programme (SHEP), will be conducted in two rounds.
The first round is scheduled for October 19 to 23, 2026, while the second will take place from November 30 to December 4, 2026.
In a press release dated October 19, the GHS explained that health workers would visit schools across the country to vaccinate eligible girls aged 9 to 14 who have not yet received the HPV vaccine.
The exercise forms part of efforts to raise awareness about the routine HPV vaccine, increase vaccination uptake and strengthen the country’s routine immunisation programme.
The GHS has called on school authorities, parents, guardians, teachers and community leaders to cooperate with health teams to ensure the successful implementation of the exercise.
The Service reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the health and well-being of Ghanaians, particularly children, through vaccination and other public health interventions.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has held high-level discussions with organisers of the 2026 Global South Academic Forum in Shanghai, seeking to draw lessons from China’s acclaimed rural revitalisation and poverty reduction drive.
The meeting, led by the Forum Chair, Professor Lu Xinyu, explored practical areas of cooperation and knowledge exchange between Ghana and China, with focus on community-driven development, fisheries and aquaculture, local governance, sports initiatives, and infrastructure development.
According to officials, the engagement is part of a broader effort by the Ghanaian government to study tested development models that can be adapted to the local context to promote inclusive growth, empower local communities, and improve livelihoods across the country.
China’s success in lifting over 800 million people out of poverty through targeted rural policies, investment in agriculture and local infrastructure has become a global reference point for developing nations.
The Vice President’s team says insights from the Forum will help inform policy direction, particularly in strengthening decentralised governance, boosting the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and investing in community-level infrastructure and youth sports development.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang is expected to continue engagements with academic and development institutions while in China.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
