Use approved feminine hygiene products -Dr Ashitey

Pg 17 (women's page) Sat. Feb. 16 2008

Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho

It is a common practice for some women to use herbal concoctions, ordinary soaps, chemicals, and antiseptic such as dettol as feminine hygiene products to clean the inner part of their genital organ.
This, according to health experts, sometimes irritate the vagina to cause sours while some of these unapproved products also wash away the protective shields of the vagina allowing infections to occur rapidly in those areas.
To offer women a better alternative, ‘femfresh’, a leading feminine hygiene brand in the United Kingdom (UK), has launched a variety of feminine hygiene products for Ghanaian women to improve their health.
The UK product, marketed in Ghana by All Pharma (GH) Limited, a subsidiary of Allipharma UK Limited, comprises wipes, intimate wash, talc-free powder, deodorant and body wash for general use.
Launching the products in Accra, the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Mrs Gladys Norley Ashitey, cautioned women against the use of unorthodox feminine hygiene products in cleansing their intimate parts.
She said that was necessary to avoid complications that resulted from the development of disease conditions such as thrush and other infections.
Dr Ashitey, who performed the ceremony with the Deputy British High Commissioner, Mrs Menna Rawlings, further urged women to opt for products that were balanced in terms of acidity to avoid unnecessary irritations to their intimate parts.
She also called on women to make wise decisions when it came to their genital health care by going in for products that were body friendly and did not cause allergic conditions.
She said “we believe that when the woman is healthy, Ghana is also healthy and the huge sums of money spent on ill-health could be channelled to other profitable ventures towards national development”.
Dr (Mrs) Ashitey said the launch of the product showed that the government of Ghana was investor friendly and committed to promoting private sector investment for the development of the entire country.
She said the Ministry of Health had adopted a paradigm shift mainly focussing on preventive health care, adding that the ministry expected individuals to take simple measures to prevent certain serious diseases.
She said the ministry had introduced the regenerative health and nutrition programme aimed at educating people to adopt healthier lifestyles for their well-being.
Mrs Rawlings, for her part, said through the UK Trade Investment, Ghana had also joined the international market to use one of Britons most quality feminine product.
The Chief Executive Officer of All Pharma Ghana, Mr Patrick Karikari, in a presentation said ‘femfresh’ had a 56 per cent market share in feminine hygiene products in the UK.
He, however, cautioned that it could not be used to cure already existing conditions affecting some women such as offensive vagina odours or infections but rather could be used to prevent such conditions.
He said the product had been gynaecologically tested and approved and when used it ensured that the vagina was clean and fresh, adding that women who used it always felt great and were more confident with themselves.

Pix shows Dr (Mrs) Glagys Ashitey (left) unveiling the ‘femfresh’ range of products with the Deputy British High Commissioner, Mrs Menna Rawlings.