Yesterday, Monday, the starting signal was given in a large majority of pharmacies in Catalonia for the free and universal distribution of reusable menstrual products, one of the actions included in the comprehensive menstrual and climacteric equity plan 2023-2025 promoted by the department of Equality and Feminisms of the Generalitat. In principle, and according to what this newspaper was able to capture, the initiative was well accepted by clients who went to pharmacies in search of some of these products. Many knew that it was the first day that they could be purchased for free and they went with the QR that they had previously downloaded in the La meva salut application. It is true that at some moments the portal was somewhat collapsed and virtual queues were generated to access, but after a few minutes of waiting – between 1 and 4 according to sources from the Consell de Col•legis Farmacèutics de Catalunya (CCFC) – users were able to enter .
“There has been a lot of demand,” Elena Carazo, owner of the Provença 156 pharmacy in Barcelona, ??explained to La Vanguardia. “Since we opened in the morning we have not stopped. We had stock, but we have already been forced to make reservations because we have run out of some items.”
The star product, at least in their establishment, were menstrual panties. “It is what has been most in demand,” he stated. The panty is one of the three items (along with the menstrual cup or a pack of two reusable cloth pads) that Catalan women, aged 10 to 60, or trans men who menstruate can access. Through the QR that must be downloaded from La meva salut you will be able to obtain one of them, and on a single occasion.
This is what Cristina did, who first thing in the afternoon went to the Torres Pharmacy, on Aribau Street in Barcelona, ??to get some panties. She had previously tried it in other establishments without success. In the morning she had gone to a pharmacy whose computer system had crashed. Later, in another, they told her that they were not part of the program, “something she didn’t know about.” And even in a third they had run out of stock.
Sources from the CCFC assure this editorial team that in principle the majority of the 3,284 pharmacies in Catalonia have joined the program (which will be active in 2024 and all of 2025), but there may be some – “very few cases” – that have not . In turn, they detail that both the program that pharmacies use to dispense these products and La meva salut worked as planned, although there may have been some cases in which this was not the case and that ended up being corrected. “At La meva salut, access queues were generated at some point, which lasted from 1 to 4 minutes,” they emphasize.
Núria, another client who was waiting to be seen at the Torres Pharmacy, had to wait eight minutes to access said portal. “There were just over 4,000 people waiting.” However, she ended up entering. Satisfied with the initiative, she stated – also Cristina, the other client she met at the pharmacy – that “they should have implemented it sooner.” She purchased the star product: menstrual panties. “It is the item that we have sold the most,” confirmed Neus Hierro, manager of the establishment. “We have had to make new orders,” she added.
“It is true that the panties have had a way out, but so has the cup,” argued Antoni Torres, president of the Federació d’Associacions de Farmàcies de Catalunya. Torres pointed to a cultural change that began a few years ago and has gone from a disposable product to a reusable one. In this sense, he stressed that a panty can last about 100 washes and a cup, made of surgical silicone, between five and six years.
Meanwhile, and at that same time (around 4 p.m.), only two clients had been interested in menstrual products at the Urgellés Fàbregas pharmacy. One took some panties, while the second was left unable to purchase anything due to the impossibility of accessing La meva salut. “It was collapsed,” said Patrícia Urgellés, one of the owners of the business. “But wow, no need to run, the program lasts a while.”
Also at the Aribau pharmacy, panties were the most requested product. This was explained by one of his employees, who reported, however, that the clients had not come en masse in search of these products. “We will have served five people,” he assured, in addition to advising a client who had asked him how to download the QR. Of course, he acknowledged that they had placed an order – which they will receive in 24 or 48 hours – because they had run out of a specific size of one of the items.
At the Costa Codina pharmacy, on Gran Vía in Barcelona, ??there was no great demand either. Until early afternoon, only one person had come interested in how to obtain any of the items. In any case, they would not have been able to dispense it either: the minimum initial stock had not yet arrived. “We have been ordering it for a little over a month and they told us it would arrive between last week and this week. If it doesn’t arrive this Tuesday, we will claim it,” explained the manager. Other establishments that La Vanguardia visited yesterday had not received the products either. From the CCFC they affirm that in 24 or 48 hours all pharmacies will have the initial stock if they do not already have it.
