Disadvantaged adolescent girls wait to receive sanitary pads in Phước Sơn District, Quàng Nam Province in October. Photo courtesy of World Vision Việt Nam

HÀ NỘI — More than 326,000 packets of Whisper sanitary pads, worth some US$280,000, have been given to ensure menstrual hygiene for 16,000 disadvantaged adolescent girls in the provinces of Quảng Trị, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi.

The donation is part of the campaign 'Buy One –Donate One', recently launched by World Vision Việt Nam with P&G’s feminine care brand, Whisper. The campaign aims to celebrate Vietnamese Women’s Day (20 October).

Consumers can contribute to making this day more memorable for underprivileged girls by purchasing Whisper products, starting from VNĐ20,000 (US$0.86) in Saigon Co.opmart and the Lotte supermarket system.

Each Whisper packet sold from 20 October to 31 December will be converted to the corresponding amount of sanitary pads to support underprivileged adolescent girls under the campaign.

Maintaining menstrual hygiene is still a challenge for women and girls in many parts of the world.

According to the World Bank, at least 500 million women and girls globally lack adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management and studies also show that girls’ inability to properly manage their menstrual hygiene results in school absenteeism and a low sense of self-worth.

Việt Nam’s working areas also see a similar issue. Up to 30 per cent of women and girls can’t take basic hygiene measures during their menstruation because they can’t afford to use more than 1-2 sanitation pads per day. Ten per cent of them have to rely on makeshift pads made from mosquito nets due to their family’s extreme economic challenges.

World Vision Việt Nam’s Operations Director Thân Thị Hà said: “World Vision Việt Nam believes that encouraging young girls to properly use sanitary pads is not simply a solution for a sanitation matter. It is an essential step for young girls to preserve their dignity and body integrity, ensure consistent school attendance, thus embrace their life’s full potential.” — VNS