Former Citizen TV anchor Janet Mbugua has reportedly filed a petition to the Members of Parliament.
According to the petition, Mbugua wants the MPs to improve on the Menstrual Health Management (MHM) Policy in Kenya to ensure all women in Kenya are receiving adequate MHM services.
In a statement released on Friday, the media personality demanded more action ahead of the Menstrual Health Management Day on Tuesday, May 28.
Mbugua called on the MPs to take action towards improving the MHM policy so as to ensure that all menstruating women and girls, whether in workplaces, in the communities, or at homes are supported.
“Every day, women and girls who lack the income and access to afford sanitary products face significant barriers including insufficient education about MHM and inadequate access to quality, low-cost products.
"There are girls who don’t have access to sanitary products, and as a result, they feel they have no option but to stay home while menstruating” she stated.
“What’s worse, there are women and girls who are engaging in transnational sex in order to purchase sanitary products," the Award-winning media personality added.
Mbugua pointed out that the current government policy on MHM in Kenya is insufficient.
The policy, which can be found in The Basic Education (Amendment) Act enacted by the Parliament of Kenya in 2017, simply reads that [the government will] “provide free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels to every girl child registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution, who has reached puberty and provide a safe and environmentally sound mechanism for disposal of the sanitary towels.
She noted that the policy does not give much detail or information regarding how the government provides distribution and disposal of sanitary products or education on sexual reproductive health.
