Open conversations about periods are now slowly beginning to happen. The true challenge of maintaining menstrual hygiene is the taboo attached to the topic of menstruation. Unless we speak openly about the experience and different aspects attached to it, it’s tough to maintain menstrual hygiene. As the hesitation and taboo related to menstruation slowly fades and awareness grows, the focus on sustainability and making mindful choices are being appreciated.
Menstrual health and hygiene:
Menstrual health is all about a woman’s overall health, both emotional and physical. It entails about her social wellbeing too, thus the requirement to make it a topic of discussion. While discussing menstrual health it is necessary to discuss menstrual hygiene. It includes daily practices of maintaining cleanliness to prevent infection.
And this is possible by regularly changing sanitary products, keeping the genital part clean, and last but not the least, disposing of menstrual products safely. It also involves the sense of comfort for women, access to menstrual products and managing periods.
Importance of Menstrual Hygiene:
Menstrual hygiene impacts the overall health of women. Maintaining a good menstrual hygiene leads to:
- Good physical and emotional health
- Lesser absenteeism
- Higher productivity
- Sense of empowerment.
Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM):
This term encompasses everything related to the practise, facility and products utilized to manage menstruation in a hygienic and effective way.
It includes:
- Use of hygienic menstruation products.
- Access to private space to change it.
- Availability of clean water and sanitary facility for cleaning and washing.
- Sustainable ways of disposing the menstrual products.
Many women around the world face the challenge of social taboo, lack of money and proper facilities. For a proper MHM it is necessary to have a Menstrual Hygiene Unit especially in workplaces.
Menstrual Hygiene Unit should be comfortable, convenient and effective.
Disposal of Sanitary Waste:
Discarding sanitary waste safely, and in a sustainable way is vital for menstrual hygiene. A proper process to manage disposal of sanitary waste is an important aspect as it keeps washrooms clean and its environmentally sustainable.
In the absence of the proper process, it becomes a threat to our health and environment. Contaminating public toilets, and water resources is dangerous and troublesome. One should dispose of menstrual products in authorized bins or containers.
Sanitary Bins are important for Menstrual Hygiene:
Organizations should consider investing in a Menstrual Hygiene Unit to avoid spread of germs, bacteria that are a threat to your health. Advantages of having a Menstrual Hygiene Bin or Unit is it helps in hygiene management, avoids blockages in the toilet, prevents spread of infection, helps fight bad odour and doesn’t pollute the environment and water bodies.
Factors to consider while selecting a Menstrual Hygiene Unit (MHU)
Consider a designated unit which has all facilities to ensure proper management of menstrual hygiene. These units are mostly installed in public places, public toilets, community centers, companies, and schools.
The restroom experience is comfortable if the MHU helps maintain clean and hygienic environment.
How to choose the best selecting a Menstrual Hygiene Unit?
Utility value:
The key aspects to consider are the capacity it can hold, method of disposal and effective odour control.
First, find out how many users visit the washroom and how frequently the unit will be used. Select a bin that can be used for all the waste that is generated during the day without getting spilled over.
If there are too many people visiting the restrooms then the capacity of the sanitary bin or MHU should be more. Smaller units can be useful for individual bathrooms.
Some MHUs have replaceable disposable liners while others may have reusable liners. An option that is environmentally friendly.
The MHU should have tightly sealed to avoid spreading bad odour.
Design aspects:
It is important to consider if the bin fits in comfortably in the restroom and how much space it will occupy. The unit should not obstruct the movement and occupy too much space.
A wall mounted Menstrual Hygiene Unit or sanitary bin can be chosen to save space or even a free standing unit would do. The specific feature should be an easy to grip handle and the height should be apt.
Maintenance:
The durability and maintenance should be considered. Select the unit that is easy to clean and maintain over time. Regular usage should be possible and it should be in good shape even if it is used over a long period of time. The quality of material and the structure should be superior.
Cost and affordability:
It is vital to consider the cost – it should be affordable and economical to maintain it. Affordability is about the up-front maintenance and regular supply costs.
Price and quality both should be of top priority to ensure that the units fit in hygiene requirements, they are durable and safe.
We hope the information provided regarding the factors to consider when selecting a menstrual hygiene unit was helpful.
We are sure that Naree Care can guide you to choose an apt Menstrual Hygiene Unit or a Sanitary Bin. Get in touch with our team to discuss and know more.
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