Last spring, the Czech government added menstrual pads to the stockpile of state reserves in the event of a natural disaster, catastrophe or war. The Ministry of Finance will therefore purchase sanitary towels for CZK 6 million, the first tranche of which will be delivered by TZMO by the end of November. Credit: Freepik.
Czech Rep, Nov 8 (BD) – During the spring of this year, the Ministry of Finance proposed to include tampons and other menstrual equipment among the necessary assets to be held in state reserves in the event of natural disasters.
Subsequently, a tender was issued to choose the company that would supply the state with these products. According to the president of the State Material Reserves Administration (SSHR), Pavel Švagr, quoted by iDnes, TZMO won the tender for the supply of menstrual pads for the most competitive price, of 94 haler per unit, excluding VAT.
In addition to the state reserves, Finance Minister Alena Schillerová proposed fighting menstrual poverty by purchasing more menstrual pads to distribute among women in economically disadvantaged situations.
“Menstrual poverty is a typical social taboo. Unfortunately, the fact that it is not talked about much does not mean that it does not exist. It is a problem that inhibits and causes suffering for about 70,000 women in the Czech Republic. Following the example of the more advanced Western countries, we have decided to end this. And I am happy that we have found a model that will also strengthen the resilience of our country in the event of sudden crises and lack of resources,” wrote Schillerová.
As stated earlier in the spring, due to the urgent need to address the consequences of menstrual poverty this year, the ministry proposes to supply 2 million disposable menstrual pads from newly created stocks to food banks, so they can reach socially disadvantaged women as soon as possible.
“We are currently working on a contract with the food banks, as they will receive 2 million of these disposable pads from us free of charge at the end of November, as part of the fight against menstrual poverty. Another 4 million units will then be delivered to our warehouses by the end of the year,” added Švagr.
