Period poverty: Can reusable products solve the issue? What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

The average person who menstruates has their period for 2,535 days (nearly seven years) of their life, according to the UN.

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That’s A LOT of tampons and pads - not to mention the pain and discomfort which can come from periods too. But the World Bank says 500 million women don’t have access to menstrual products. Period poverty - when women and girls can’t afford or access sanitary products - is a global problem, affecting lots of countries in Africa as well as the US, UK, India and New Zealand.

Gloria Achieng, a BBC journalist in Kenya, talks us through the causes of period poverty and some of the reusable products available. Patricia Kajumba, founder of Glow Up Pads in Uganda, explains how her reusable pads are making a difference and Geena Dunne from the Cova Project in Australia tells us about their menstrual cups. BBC Health reporter Michelle Roberts breaks down some of the myths surrounding period products.

00:00 Introduction
00:35 Why don’t women and girls have access to period products?
02:06 The consequences of period poverty
03:03 What reusable period products are available?
04:50 The Australian company donating menstrual cups
07:03 How popular are other period products?
07:25 How expensive are reusable period products?
08:25 The barriers to accessing reusable products
09:00 The stigmas attached to period products
09:52 Debunking tampon and menstrual cup myths
11:25 How can period poverty be tackled?
12:24 The movements pushing for period equity
13:54 Are reusable products a solution?
14:26 Outro

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