Nairobi, March 21 -- As we continue to focus on inclusion in March as the women's month, it is important to remember one area where many girls and women remain excluded, namely menstrual health management. The Ministry of Health's 2020 Menstrual Hygiene Policy notes that 58 per cent of girls in rural settings and 53 per cent in urban areas in Kenya cannot afford sanitary pads and, therefore, resort to unsuitable substitutes. This denies girls and women of dignity, much as it is also associated with absence from school during menses.

Over the years, the government has initiated measures on the subject. It repealed the value added tax on sanitary pads in 2014, removed duties on raw materials needed to produce them in 2016, and allocated an...