Home ›› 27 Aug 2021 ›› Front
It is not a social taboo to discuss menstrual health any longer; it’s rather a growing consciousness among adolescent girls and women whose sense of periodic health hygiene is driving the sanitary napkin market to an upward trajectory.
Coming out of reliance on homemade cotton clothes to deal with their menstrual issues for years, the women are now more in way dependent on menstrual pad–an essential hygiene product that has done much to keep a perennial social stigma at bay.
The application of sanitary napkins, therefore, is no longer limited to town and city women, it has caught the attention of their counterparts in villages as well.
An indispensible need for tackling reproductive cycle coupled with improving purchasing power of women has spurred the growth of pad market in the country.
The use of sanitary napkins in the country rose by 36 per cent in 2018 which was only 11 per cent in 2014, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The BBS data published on December last year shows that 43 per cent adolescent and 29 per cent adult used disposable pad during menstruation.
A Bangladesh National Hygiene survey conducted in 2014 found that 10 per cent adolescent schoolgirls, 11 per cent adolescents at household and 12 per cent adult women used sanitary towel.
Currently, the sanitary napkin market size is nearly Tk 500 crore which keeps improving by 25 per cent per annum, according to Mizanur Rahman, head of hygiene products at Social Marketing Company (SMC).
Nur Hossain, a staff of Jharna Medical on the secretariat road in the capital, said the demand for sanitary napkins is increasing day by day.
“We used to sell 10 packets in a single day which is now 20 to 25 packets,” added the salesman.
Mohammad Pial, a salesman at Maliha Enterprise beside Dhaka Medical College, echoed the same as Nur. He stated that sanitary napkins are now mostly used and their demand is on the rise.
“In the last two years our sales rose up by 60 per cent. If the price was more affordable, its use would increase,” he suggested.
Local products key market players
In the market, nearly 13 products are available, of which eight are locally produced while the rest are foreign.
The local companies meet 85 per cent demand and the rest 15 percent are supplied by the global companies.
Local brands like Senora, Joya, Freedom, Monalisa are the key market players supplying products at an affordable price.
Senora, Joya, Freedom, Monalisa are key local brands. On the other hand Whisper, Sofy, Stay Safe, Always, Body Form are well-known foreign brands available in the market.
Senora is produced by Square Toiletries Ltd while Joya by Social Marketing Company (SMC), Monalisa by Bashundhara Group and Freedom by ACI Limited.
“Over the couple of years we have been able to achieve considerable growth. In the last fiscal alone we achieved 65 per cent growth,” he gave an estimate.
Asked about their growth mechanism, the head of SMC said they provide products at less than 20 per cent compared to others’ sales price.
According to Jesmin Zaman, head of marketing, Square Toiletries Limited, they are the leading market player, with 20 to 25 per cent growth in the last five years.
“We hope to sell more products in the days to come as our product is very demandable in the market,” added the executive.
“We have 21 per cent market share, but the market has been affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” noted Tasnim Jamil, ACI Brand Executive.
Pads getting popular among grass roots women
According to the data of Bangladesh National Hygiene Survey-2018, 5.1 per cent adolescents use new clothes, 50 per cent old clothes and 1.6 per cent use cotton/tissue/cloth rag during menstruation.
The data of Bangladesh National Hygiene Survey 2014 finds that 3.3 per cent adolescent use new clothes, 64.7 per cent old clothes, 1.9 per cent cotton/tissue/cloth rag and 1.1 per cent nothing during menstruation.
The situation is improving as women are getting educated.
The adolescent girls now prefer sanitary napkins to any other traditional items even in rural areas.
According to a 2019 report by the Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics, the percentage of girls in primary education is about 51 per cent, secondary and higher secondary education is 50 per cent while at the tertiary-level education is 38 per cent.
A Shariatpur paramedic Rabeya Akter said the village women who used clothes during their period are now turning to sanitary napkins.
“We are selling more pads in recent years. The shyness as well as drawback of extra expenditure on such hygiene products is ebbing away,” she observed.
Dr HM Zahirul Islam, upazila health and family planning officer at Patuakhali, stated that the old customs of using clothes during menstruation is going away.
“We are campaigning for consciousness among women on reproductive health. The women are responding to it gradually,” argued the doctor.
No impact on price even after VAT exemption
In a bid to protect women and girl’s reproductive health cycle, the government proposed VAT exemption on the import of raw materials and on the production of sanitary napkins at local manufacturing stage in the budge of FY 2021-22.
But there is no reflection of the move seen in the market while visiting several drugstores.
The Business Post finds that those products’ price remains the same as it was before.
Freedom, Heavy Flow Wings 16 pads produced before May 30, 2021 are selling at Tk 200 while the same
item manufactured on August 8, 2021 following this fiscal budget is still priced at Tk 200.
Joya, a regular flow belt system, is also being sold at Tk 60 before and after the budget announcement.
Nure Alam, staff of BADAS Pharmacy at BIRDEM General Hospital, said the price remains the same as earlier.
“The announcement in the budget is nothing but customary. There is no implementation in the market,” he opined.
Mohammad Raihan, proprietor of Raihan Medicine Corner at Chawkbazar, asserted that they buy sanitary napkin at same price now and before.
“If the companies decrease the price, we will also follow suit,” explained Raihan.
SMC’s Mizanur Rahman maintained that actually there is no implementation of VAT exemption in the market. People enjoy a discount for some days only.
“But we are providing an offer like a Tk-10 discount and buy two, get one free,” he claimed.
Green sanitary napkin to be popular
The use of eco-friendly sanitary napkins is getting popular in the market for their reusability and being comfortable.
Some organisations are producing eco-friendly sanitary napkins like Wreetu.
Wreetu Founder Sharmin Kabir said reusable sanitary napkin is getting popular for its uniqueness since it is healthy, eco-friendly and affordable.
“We are making such sanitary napkin. Soon its demand will rise,” he hoped.
Why Sanitary Napkin?
Using dirty old clothes during women’s period can cause several diseases like fever, lower abdominal pain and urinary tract infections and even cancer. There may be an infection in the uterus if women and adolescent girls use old clothes during their menstruation.
Dr Nahreen Akhtar, chairman, Department of Fetomaternal Medicine, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said they prescribe sanitary napkins since they are hygienic.
“Those using dirty clothes may get bacterial infection. Even such clothes can block ovary,” warned the doctor.
