Management of Menstrual Hygiene in Promoting Education Among Adolescent Girls in Enqucwini Education Zone in Mzimba District.

BACKGROUND

Poor menstrual hygiene management (MHM) greatly impacts girls' education negatively-however, studies exploring menstrual health management in sub-Saharan rural region are rare.

AIM: The study explored MHM practices among adolescent girls in rural Mzimba, ⁴ Malawi.

METHOD: It was a mixed-methods study with a sample size of 81. Data were collected through questionnaires, direct observations, FGDs, key informants and participant observation that were used to collect the experiences. Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic approach, and quantitative data using SPSS.

FINDINGS: The study results showed that common sanitary facilities were pit latrines (100%), no bathroom during the study period (0%) to be used to bathe and change. Further, the study found that lack of education on menstrual management (96%) and 63% of the respondents cited lack of adequate facilities. The study found lack of water buckets at the toilets (28.1%), and about 23.1% said they did not wash hands because of a lack of handwashing soap. However, the majority of the participants explained that hand washing was not done because of both reasons: lack of water buckets and soap for hand washing (48.8%). Cultural practices promoted absenteeism among young adolescent girls who are prevented from attending school during menstruation to avoid shaming the family.

CONCLUSION

The study recommends compliance with the sanitation policy, that is, school management to invest in the development of facilities and promotion of menstrual hygiene practices through education to curb harmful cultural practices related to menstruation.