Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said Sunday that the government will remove levies imposed on the production of sanitary pads to make them affordable to consumers, especially poor schoolgirls.
“The government has heard calls by stakeholders to remove levies on the production of sanitary pads to make them affordable to poor girls and women,” Majaliwa said in Dar es Salaam.”I will direct the minister responsible for finance to remove levies on the production of sanitary pads following appeals by stakeholders,” said Majaliwa.
On May 27, Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu said plans were underway to install sanitary pads vending machines in all public schools to allow girl students to have uninterrupted education. Mwalimu said girls in public schools lost between 30 and 40 days of study annually for lack of access to sanitary pads. “The vending machines will enable girl students to access the sanitary pads whenever they need them at 200 Tanzanian shillings (0.084 U.S. dollar),” Mwalimu said at Bunge secondary school in the capital Dodoma, where a sanitary pads vending machine was put in place.
