Women need safe, effective and comfortable sanitary products for menstrual management. New study summarizes that menstrual cups are safe, reliable, acceptable yet low-cost and mazingira-friendly alternative to existing sanitary products like tampons. Enabling menstruating girls and women to make informed choices on sanitary products can help them lead good and healthy lives.
Menstruation is a normal body function in a afya girl or woman. Around 1.9 billion women worldwide are of menstruating age and every woman spends up to 2 months in a year in handling menstrual blood flow. Various sanitary products are available like sanitary pads and tampons which absorb blood, and a kikombe cha hedhi ambayo kwa kawaida hukusanya damu na itahitaji kumwagwa kati ya saa 4-12 kwani hii inategemea mtiririko wa damu na aina ya kikombe kinachotumiwa. Aina mbili za vikombe kama hivyo zinapatikana - kikombe cha uke chenye umbo la kengele na kikombe cha mlango wa kizazi ambacho huwekwa karibu na seviksi sawa na diaphragm. Vikombe hivi vinaundwa na silikoni inayotumika kimatibabu, mpira au mpira. Zinatumika tena na zinaweza kudumu hadi muongo mmoja, ingawa baadhi ya chaguo za matumizi moja zinapatikana pia. Wanawake wote wanahitaji bidhaa za hedhi zinazotegemewa, salama na zinazostarehesha kwani bidhaa zisizo na ubora husababisha kuvuja na kukauka na matumizi yake huathiri moja kwa moja afya.
Idadi ndogo sana ya tafiti zimelinganisha bidhaa zilizopo za usafi. Utafiti mpya uliochapishwa mnamo Julai 16 mnamo Afya ya Umma ya Lancet inayolenga kutathmini usalama, vitendo, upatikanaji, kukubalika na sababu za gharama za kutumia kikombe cha hedhi. Vikombe vya hedhi vimekuwepo tangu miaka ya 1930 lakini ufahamu juu yao ni mdogo sana hata katika nchi za kipato cha juu. Katika utafiti wao, watafiti walikusanya na kukagua tafiti 43 za kitaaluma zilizohusisha wanawake na wasichana 3,300 ambao waliripoti wenyewe uzoefu wao wa matumizi ya kikombe cha hedhi. Watafiti pia walikusanya taarifa kutoka kwa mtengenezaji na hifadhidata ya uzoefu wa mtumiaji kwa matukio kuhusu matumizi ya kikombe cha hedhi. Kuchunguza hedhi damu leakage when using a cup was primary. Also, safety issues and adverse events were evaluated. Costs, availability and mazingira savings were estimated. Information was assessed for low, middle-income and high-income countries.
Analysis showed that menstrual cups are a safe and effective option for hedhi management just like other sanitary products and that lack of familiarity is the biggest hurdle in menstrual cup usage. This product is never mentioned on any educational websites which discuss puberty in girls. Leakage in menstrual cups was similar or less compared to other sanitary products and rates of infection are similar or lower for menstrual cups. Preference for menstrual cups was seen to be high in different countries and even in low income countries, resource constrained setting was not a deterrent. Different brands are available in 99 countries costing between 72 cents to USD 50. Using reusable menstrual cups also has major environmental and cost benefits as plastic waste can be drastically reduced.
Utafiti wa sasa unatoa muhtasari wa habari juu ya uvujaji, usalama, kukubalika kwa vikombe vya hedhi kwa kulinganisha na bidhaa zilizopo za usafi. Utafiti huo unasisitiza kuwa vikombe vya hedhi ni chaguo salama, la kuaminika na linalokubalika katika nchi za kipato cha chini, cha kati na cha juu. Kuwawezesha wanawake kufanya maamuzi sahihi kuhusu bidhaa za usafi kwa ajili ya usimamizi wa hedhi kunaweza kuwasaidia kuishi maisha yenye afya na matokeo.
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Chanzo (s)
Anna Maria van Eijket al. 2019. Matumizi ya kikombe cha hedhi, kuvuja, kukubalika, usalama na upatikanaji: uhakiki wa utaratibu na uchanganuzi wa meta. Afya ya Umma ya Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30111-2
