The Government of the Generalitat will allocate 8.5 million euros next year to facilitate universal and free access to reusable menstrual products, a measure from which around 2.5 million people are expected to benefit, including women and non-binary people. and trans men who menstruate.
This was explained today by the Minister of Equality and Feminisms, Tània Verge, after signing an agreement with the Consell de Col·legis Farmacèutics de Catalunya so that pharmacies are the ones to do so. Starting in the first quarter of 2024, distribute these products and provide personalized advice to women on issues related to menstruation or reproductive rights when removing them.
Each woman will be able to pick up the product she prefers at accredited pharmacies – a menstrual cup, a cloth pad or a reusable menstrual panty – by simply presenting a QR code (personal and non-transferable) that she will receive in the La Meva Salut application.
Verge has emphasized that this is a pioneering initiative in the world that guarantees a new right, that of menstrual equity, and that allows progress in terms of social justice because it combats menstrual poverty by facilitating free access to these products; climate justice, because it will contribute to reducing the more than 9,000 tons of waste produced each year in Catalonia due to the use of single-use tampons and pads; and gender justice, because advice will be offered to end the stigma and taboos around periods that hinder women’s health.
As an example, the counselor recalled that the false belief that it is normal for periods to hurt may be delaying many endometriosis diagnoses.
And she stressed that the free distribution of reusable menstrual products will also mean significant savings for women because if they choose to use the cup they will spend about 145 euros in their entire fertile life, compared to the 2,500 euros they would have to spend if they use tampons and single-use pads.
The initiative is part of the Comprehensive Menstrual and Climacteric Equity Plan 2023-2025 that was approved last March and which also includes educational measures. In this sense, the agreement signed with the Consell de Col·legis Farmacèutics de Catalunya includes a training plan for pharmacy owners with the aim of turning these establishments into points of reference, advice and support on issues related to menstruation. and menopause.
The cost of this training is included in the 8.5 million euros that according to Verge this initiative will cost in 2024. To this we must add the possible compensation to pharmacists for this new advisory service, a remuneration that, according to the president of the Col·legi, Jordi Casas, is still being negotiated.
