Period poverty: Can reusable products solve the issue? What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

The average person who menstruates has their period for 2,535 days (nearly seven years) of their life, according to the UN. Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM That’s A LOT of tampons and pads - not to mention the pain and discomfort which can come from periods too. But the World Bank says 500 million women don’t have access to menstrual products. Period poverty - when women and girls can’t afford or access sanitary products - is a global problem, affecting lots of countries in Africa as well as the US, UK, India and New Zealand. Gloria Achieng, a BBC journalist in Kenya, talks us through the causes of period poverty and some of the reusable products available. Patricia Kajumba, founder of Glow Up Pads in Uganda, explains how her reusable pads are making a difference and Geena Dunne from the Cova Project in Australia tells us about their menstrual cups. BBC Health reporter Michelle Roberts breaks down some of the myths surrounding period products. 00:00 Introduction 00:35 Why don’t women and girls have access to period products? 02:06 The consequences of period poverty 03:03 What reusable period products are available? 04:50 The Australian company donating menstrual cups 07:03 How popular are other period products? 07:25 How expensive are reusable period products? 08:25 The barriers to accessing reusable products 09:00 The stigmas attached to period products 09:52 Debunking tampon and menstrual cup myths 11:25 How can period poverty be tackled? 12:24 The movements pushing for period equity 13:54 Are reusable products a solution? 14:26 Outro Watch more episodes from What in the World here 👉🏽    • What in the World   Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Mora Morrison and Hayley Clarke Video Journalist: Gabriel Purcell-Davis and Adam Chowdhury Editor: Verity Wilde ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram 👉🏽   / bbcworldservice   Twitter 👉🏽   / bbcworldservice   Facebook 👉🏽   / bbcworldservice   BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #periods #periodpoverty #BBCWorldService #WorldService