Rachita Kasliwal, Co-founder, Medyseva focuses on their feminine cleanliness mindfulness drive

Rachita Kasliwal, Co-founder, Medyseva opens up to Jaleel Rawther about their drive, discussing the well-being risks which occur because of poor feminine practices, the difficulties they are looking while at the same time discussing feminine cleanliness in rustic regions, and why feminine cleanliness mindfulness is important for men, especially in towns. Following are the passages from the discussion.

Madhya Pradesh-based telemedicine healthcare startup Medyseva has recently started an initiative to spread awareness on menstrual hygiene in rural areas as part of their flagship campaign ‘Har Ghar Swasth’. Even though we are progressing as a nation and winning accolades on the global stage, rural India continues to battle challenges like poor menstrual hygiene, taboos, superstitions, and lack of awareness.

Rachita Kasliwal, Co-founder, Medyseva opens up to JaleelRawther about their initiative, talking about the health hazards which happen due to poor menstrual practices, the challenges they are facing while talking about menstrual hygiene in rural areas, and why menstrual hygiene awareness is necessary for men, particularly in villages.

Please tell us about Medyseva’s menstrual hygiene awareness initiative Recently, we have started this menstrual hygiene awareness initiative. We conduct webinars and sessions in public places to create awareness around menstrual hygiene. A lot of rural women still do not use sanitary pads etc during menstruation, and those who do, have very limited knowledge about disposing them of properly after use.

When thrown out in the open, these become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests, leading to health problems in the nearby areas. While visiting different places for opening new centers, we saw certain incorrect menstrual practices in some of the areas. We had a female worker in one of our centers, who would not turn up on certain days saying she is not allowed to step out of her home while menstruating.

Even the volunteers refuse to go out on a certain day saying they are not allowed to step out of their houses during this time or interact with males. A lot of these practices encouraged us to start this initiative so that we can change people’s mindsets and increase awareness. Women in several parts of India to date face restrictions like not entering the kitchen or touching pickles during menstruation.

Facing it every month with people in your family and neighborhood knowing why you are in isolation, considering it as an impurity or some kind of disease, they look down upon you for something so natural and biological, all these make a woman lose confidence.

Unhygienic menstrual practices lead to what kind of health hazards?

Poor menstrual practices can lead to infection in the reproductive tract. We have seen cases where even if females are using a sanitary napkin, they’ll not change the napkin very often because they think it is very expensive or because they don’t know how to use it. How to properly use sanitary pads, when to change— all these are very common and basic for women in urban areas but it is not so common and basic for rural women.

Are sanitary pads costly or is there some other reason why a lot of rural women don’t use these?

Certainly, with television commercials and the government’s campaign to distribute sanitary napkins and spread awareness, the picture is changing.

Why awareness of menstrual hygiene is necessary for men?

If there is no change in the attitude of the male member if they are not educated about this, and if they don’t realize the importance of menstrual hygiene, then they are not going to buy sanitary napkins for their wife or give her money for that purpose.

This is why awareness is equally necessary for men, especially in rural areas. While conducting such awareness camps in public areas, we are facing resistance. We also distribute sanitary napkins to female patients and talk to them about this. We also remind our Medyseva center owners to talk to patients about this and spread awareness.

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