The issue of why sanitary pads are being taxed is an ongoing banter in Ghana. It sounds ridiculous, to hear that condoms are not taxed but sanitary pads are. Menstruation is a regular and purely natural occurrence, and compared to sex, you cannot choose when and where to have it. How then is a sanitary pad, a very vital and protective product for ensuring a messy-free cycle, a luxurious thing?
The price of sanitary pads varies from brand to brand and the least price one can purchase a good sanitary pad has increased from GHC5 to GHC7 and counting if nothing is done about the luxury tax placed on the item.
Normally, when females hit the age of 11 and some even younger, they experience menstruation as part of their puberty. The girl child whose parents have been most likely gripped by the already harsh economic climate is expected at this stage, to purchase on a monthly basis, at least one pack of a sanitary pad. That is obviously the way to go but when that girl child or her parents are burdened with a luxury tax on the product, that’s where the line should be drawn.
It is disturbing that most children, especially those in the rural areas who cannot afford this basic necessity have no choice but to stay home and use inferior and less safe means in containing the flow. They tend to miss out on a lot. Menstruation is not supposed to restrict learning and socialization yet it has been able to do that with the help of expensive sanitary pads.
A new month means new and additional sanitary expenses and the mere thought of purchasing a new pad as a new month approach adds to the frustration of Ghanaians. Why tax it? Is it a case of insensitivity or negligence?
Should the girl child continue to miss a week of school every month? Should she have to think of obtaining money from outrageous sources just to acquire such a basic necessity? Or should a woman wake up grumpy because of sanitary pads?
We need to think about the average Ghanaian and push for the scraping off of taxes such as this because menstruation cannot be a luxury on any day.