Menstrual Hygiene Management and Waste Disposal in Low and Middle Income Countries-A Review of the Literature

Menstrual Hygiene Management and Waste Disposal in Low and Middle Income Countries-A Review of the Literature

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) has gained some attention and several literature reviews have been published. However, both original papers and reviews tend to focus on absorbent access and use and not on the disposal of menstrual waste. This review aims to fill a gap in the water, sanitation and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 15; no. 11; p. 2562
Main Authors: Elledge, Myles F, Muralidharan, Arundati, Parker, Alison, Ravndal, Kristin T, Siddiqui, Mariam, Toolaram, Anju P, Woodward, Katherine Pierson
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15-11-2018
MDPI
Subjects:
Absorbents
Design
Developing Countries
Empowerment
Environmental Health
Female
Girls
Grey literature
Health Policy
Health risk assessment
Health risks
Humans
Hygiene
Literature reviews
Low income groups
Medical wastes
Menstrual Hygiene Products
Menstruation
Product development
Public health
Review
Sanitation
Sanitation systems
Toilet facilities
Urban areas
Waste disposal
Waste management
Waste Management - methods
Womens health
water and sanitation
menstrual hygiene management
sanitary waste
gender
menstrual hygiene waste disposal
environmental health
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Summary:Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) has gained some attention and several literature reviews have been published. However, both original papers and reviews tend to focus on absorbent access and use and not on the disposal of menstrual waste. This review aims to fill a gap in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector by bringing a focus specifically on menstrual hygiene safe disposal in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We reviewed published literature since 2002 on menstrual hygiene with a focus on menstrual waste management and menstrual absorbent disposal in LMIC. Database searches were conducted of both peer reviewed literature and grey literature, in addition to hand searching of references of relevant earlier literature reviews. In total 152 articles and reports were identified and 75 met the inclusion criteria and was included in the final review. Existing polices on MHM was also reviewed with a focus on India and South Africa. The review showed that disposal of menstrual waste is often neglected MHM and sanitation value chains, leading to improper disposal and negative impacts on users, the sanitation systems and the environment. Findings call for further research to gain better understandings of MHM waste streams, disposal behaviors, absorbent materials and waste management technologies to deliver health, safety, mobility and dignity for women and girls.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
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ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph15112562