Adolescent menstrual health must go beyond pads

Abstract

Marni Sommer and colleagues argue that lack of data on adolescent menstrual health is hindering investment in broader measures to improve long term wellbeing and gender equality Menstruation and the menstrual cycle affect female health and wellbeing from menarche, the first menstrual period, to menopause.123 Adolescent girls and women worldwide consistently report negative experiences with menstruation, including missed or delayed diagnosis of menstrual disorders. These issues have far reaching consequences for their wellbeing, education, livelihood opportunities, empowerment, and overall health.456 Investment in menstrual health (box 1) during adolescence is increasingly recognised as a pathway to mitigate these consequences and address gender inequality. This was emphasised in 2022 when the World Health Organization declared menstrual health as a health and human rights issue and not solely a hygiene issue.8 The emerging concept of menstrual justice highlights how harmful power structures and social norms result in menstrual related discrimination in many spheres of life that impede menstrual health.9 Box 1 ### Main components of menstrual health7 Menstrual health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in relation to the menstrual cycle. Achieving menstrual health implies that women, girls, and all other people who experience a menstrual cycle canRETURN TO TEXT Despite increased attention, insufficient data are available on adolescent girls’ menstrual health across countries. The absence of data on girls’ multidimensional requirements for menstrual health renders the challenges they experience invisible. Partly because of this, …