MOH is giving out free sanitary pads, but netizens are… angry about it?

Well, well, well. If it’s not the Ministry of Health (MOH) stirring the drama pot again.

In case you missed it, newly appointed Health Minister, Dr. Zaliha Mustafa caused a hoo-ha when she announced that the ministry will be handing out free sanitary pads to help the poor. And while we all love freebies, this is more than just your standard free gift. It’s actually part of the ministry’s effort to tackle period poverty, which in very simple terms is when people can’t afford period products like sanitary pads.

So now that we get the idea, it seems pretty obvious that MOH is doing their due diligence, right? So we smile, clap and move along.

Actually, no.

We’re not going with the flow just yet. Because there’s this tiny thing about where these sanitary pads are going to be placed.

The free sanitary pads can only be found in the ministry building

In the words of Dr. Zaliha herself:

“We will start at the health ministry’s headquarters in Putrajaya, and after that (we will expand it) throughout all ministry offices,” – Dr Zaliha, as quoted by Free Malaysia Today

While it was mentioned that this is only the first step in the program, it felt a little short-sighted considering ministers are nowhere near the target group this initiative is meant to support. With ‘poverty’ in the name, it would make sense that the poorest should be helped first especially when most rural communities have trouble locating shops selling period pads, never mind affording them.

And of course the moment they smelled the drama, Malaysians flocked to the internet to share their 2 syilings.

Netizens were quick to point out where MOH went wrong

There were some really angry ones:

“Hello, please use our country’s resources wisely. I fully support giving free menstrual pads to promote higher levels of hygiene…instead of giving it free in the KKM office, why not start with rural areas for Orang Asli, or give it free to the poor and needy?” – Yong Chian Haw, as quoted to The Star

There were some ‘ok, but’ ones:

“If you really want to distribute, it should be done in the outskirts of Sabah…go there, at least you will understand the level of hygiene among women and teenagers” – Fie Naz, as quoted to The Star

And (fortunately) there were some optimistic ones:

“Good start. I would suggest starting in schools and rural areas” – Nur’ain, as quoted to The Star

While these opinions all share a common critique, MOH’s announcement wasn’t a total trainwreck (+1 for MOH) because…

It actually got people talking about period poverty

If there’s one thing we should remember from all those SPM karangans, it’s that kempen-kempen is the solution to our every problem. And that’s because campaigns raise awareness and as such, make people conscious of the fact the problem exists.

While MOH isn’t running an actual campaign (yet), their recent stunt, intentionally or not, got people talking about period poverty and weighing in with their opinions. So technically, they’re kinda halfway there.

Let’s just hope while we wait for MOH to sort themselves out, periods won’t be cramping our styles… much.