Fanthonio Foundation, Wopecar donates to JEA Mills SHS female students calling for tax waiver on sanitary products

The Founder and Executive Director of Fanthonio Foundation (FF), the organization behind the "One Friend, One Box" campaign, Ms. Felicia Anthonio, has appealed to the government to ease the burden on women by waiving taxes on sanitary products. In addition, she called for measures to make sanitary products free to save the future of the girl-child.

This, according to her, will enable girls, especially those in deprived communities, to afford the product, without the stress of not having money.

Out of a total population of 32.84 million, 16.46 represents females as of 2021. This means that any stroke or disease among the female population will gravely impact negatively on the nation. It is in this regard that there are calls for the government to waive taxes on sanitary pads.

She made the passionate appeal on Saturday, April 29, 2023, on the sidelines of her outfit's fifth in the series donation at the J.E.A. Mills Senior High School at Ekumfi Otuam in the Central Region. Dubbed: "One Friend, One Box", the campaign seeks to empower and embolden young girls to feel free during and after their menstrual experience. Explaining the motive behind her foundation's donations, Ms. Anthonio related that "we all have stories and struggles similar to accessing sanitary products growing up so at Fanthonio Foundation, we seek to empower girls to participate in school activities during and after the menstrual cycle." Since its inception in 2018, the initiative has touched many lives of female students in five schools in the Northern Region first, then Greater Accra, Volta Region, Mangoase Senior High School within the Eastern Region, and J.E.A. Mills Senior High School being the latest. According to her, it has been a challenge asking people to donate to support the course but more challenging was the cost of sanitary products which were skyrocketing since the last donation in 2019 at Mangoase SHS where it cost just GHS6,000.00 for the sanitary products and other logistics. Sadly, Ms. Anthonio exclaimed that it has cost her outfit and a whopping GHS12,000 to do the same donation in 2023, an amount she described as outrageous, therefore, called on the government to put some premium on issues about female menstrual health. She admonished the girls to study very hard and with all the urgency required.

the Team Lead for Wopecar, Ms. Sheena Sue Biney, underscored the need for issues about menstrual health to be treated with urgency. Explaining the reason for the partnership, she pointed out that being in a position to impact or contribute to bringing sanity into the social life of the girl-child, the urgent demand to empower them with knowledge was crucial.

"Ekumfi is nearly a 2-hour drive from the capital of Accra, but it is sad to note that young girls here do not have access to sanitary pads and are embarrassed to admit it in public as soon as you ask questions relating to the menstrual cycle, you see them close up", she decried. "We want the young girls to be confident and live their lives as any young girl around the globe", she stated while appealing for scrapping of taxes on sanitary products.

A pack of single pads is going for between  GHS15.00 to GHS20.00 depending on brand. This is outrageous! How can a student from a deprived area coupled with the financial status of their parents.

For her part, the Adolescent Health Coordinator of J.E.A Mills Senior High School, Ms. Doreen Dela, was confident the donation would impact positively the menstrual health of the female students thereby affecting the overall attendance. The gesture, which is expected to last for almost a year, she noted, would at least cancel the challenge of period poverty thereby affording the girls the fortitude to be present in school. "Imagine a girl who can only afford a pack of pads per month rather than two, so they would devise ways to make up for the rest. Located at a fishing community, they fall prey to young men with little money", she indicated. Due to the same challenge, she revealed that absenteeism amongst girls has been on the rise, calling for measures to forestall the same. Some of the students also shared their grievances. Jennifer Mikaa, a Form 2 Home Economics Student, Benedicta Sam, Form 3, Clothing and Textile, and Gloria Boateng, Form 2 expressed their heartfelt gratitude to both Fanthonio Foundation and Wopecar for the donation. "Whatever work they find themselves doing, may God Almighty bless them bountifully", the students jointly said.

They also called on the government to ease the burden of taxes so they could buy with their meager feeding fees.