Complaints on use of sanitary pads-CPA calls for inquiries

Daily graphic Pg 11. Thurs. Feb. 25/10

Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

THE Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) has appealed to the Ghana Standards Boards (GSB) to look into complaints by some women who use Always Ultra sanitary pads and are alleging that they experience some discomfort anytime they use the sanitary pads.
According to a survey conducted by the CPA among 800 women from Accra, Takoradi, Kumasi and Tamale, the women have complained that they experience discomforts such as heat, trash, rushes and itches.
Out of the 800 women sampled, 647 of them making 65 per cent of the respondents said they experienced trash, rushes and itches, 121 of them making 12 per cent said they experienced severe itches and trash and 32 of the women making three per cent said they experienced only heat.
Such side effects, according to the CPA, which leads to scratching can lead to viral infections and when not treated well can cause severe health problems such as cervical cancer.
A letter signed by the Chief Executive Officer of CPA, Mr Kofi Kapito, and Nana Prempeh Aduhene, Complaints and Research Co-ordinator of CPA, however, said the survey found that all the women interviewed preferred Always for overnight use, since the absorption rate was higher than the other sanitary pads on the market.
The survey alleges that the rise in the coefficient of skin friction, indirect evidence of skin moisturisation when irritant and sensory effects when assessed were due to the quality of the product, which are made in Kenya, saying that the Always sold on the Ghanaian market were of low quality as compared to the ones on the European market.
According to the CPA, comparing Always Ultra used in Europe to the one on the Ghanaian market, the latter are rubber in nature while the one on the European market is made of cotton.
This, they say, goes against doctors and specialists recommendation that ladies use cotton panties to avoid certain infections in their private parts due to the nature of the sun and the heat in Africa and also their advice to use sanitary pads that are of cotton to avoid infections.
The survey identified that the rubber nature of the sanitary pads created severe heat absorption, which leads to itches, a situation which causes the women to scratch, consequently leading to sore and wounds at the private part making the place unhygienic.
The CPA, in a letter dated February 16, 2010 and copied to the Ministers of Health; Trade and Industry; Women and Children’s Affairs; the Director-General of Health Services, FIDDLE and ABANTU for Development, said “much as we know that Always sanitary pad is a good product and has been in the market for long, we also believe that the health of our women should not be taken for granted, since the fears of their complaints are real”.
It therefore recommended that the GSB should immediately conduct its own research to ascertain the seriousness of the matter.
They also recommend that if the research is found to be accurate, the manufacturers and importers of the Always Ultra sanitary pads should be compelled to change the fibre nature of the lining in the pad, as well as do structural changes to suit the weather conditions to help curb the excessive heat absorption that it creates.