women in Ethiopia spend a lot of money on menstrual hygiene.
According to a study conducted by “BBC Africa Visual Journalism”, women in Ethiopia spend a lot of money on menstrual hygiene.
The study was conducted to see how affordable menstrual hygiene products are. He also explored 9 African countries.
The study; He compared low monthly incomes to the cost of cheap sanitary products and concluded that the prices of the products did not reflect the affordability of many women.
Which countries have been studied?
– Ghana,
– Ethiopia,
– Somalia,
– Uganda ,
– Nigeria,
– Rwanda,
– Tanzania,
– South Africa
– They are Kenya.
In Ghana, low-wage women spend the most of their income, and Ethiopia is next to Ghana; Kenya, on the other hand, is a country where the products are cheap.
In 6 of the 9 countries, low-income women are expected to spend between 3 and 13 percent of their wages each month to buy 2 packs of sanitary products containing 8 individual modes each.
In Ghana, a woman spends three dollars of her minimum wage of $26, or one of her $7, to buy two packs of sanitary products.
This is significantly higher than for women in the US and the UK. Out of the $1,200 American women earn, they spend only $3 on sanitary products.
In Ethiopia, a woman spends an average of six percent of her income on fashion, the study said.
In Ethiopia 2 years ago, the country’s Ministry of Finance announced that it has revised the duty and taxes on basic hygiene products.
According to this decision, the minister stated that the high tax rate of 30 percent was reduced to only 10 percent when imported and imported sanitary products for women and children.
However, it has not yet been implemented.
Neighboring country Kenya became the first country in the world to exempt menstrual hygiene products from duty, like the Europeans in 2004.
After 2 years, she made the raw materials used in the production of hygiene products duty free.
As a result, the price of sanitizer in Kenya has dropped. Currently, the cheapest detergent (Modes) sells for 35 US cents.
However, women politicians and activists are still demanding that the products be offered to consumers at lower prices.
