‘Cost of Menstruation’: How Rising Pad Prices Worsen Period Poverty Among Nigerian Students

When Evelyn Joseph*, a 300-level student of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) in Kwara State, North Central Nigeria, had her first menstrual period about six years ago, she had no reasons to worry about getting healthy menstrual products to manage her period.

As a secondary school student residing with her parents, it was quite easy for them to purchase such products for her. 

However, things haven’t been the same since she got admitted into the university. As an undergraduate, Evelyn only gets to spend time with her parents during holidays. 

Also, Nigeria’s economy has experienced a drastic fall in the last few years, making it difficult for Evelyn and other Nigerians to afford basic goods and services including menstrual pads.

According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Reports which measures the average change in the prices of day-to-day goods consumed by people, Nigeria is experiencing severe inflation causing untold hardship on citizens.

For this report, Campus Reporter conducted a market survey in Kwara State and our findings showed that the average cost of sanitary pads has doubled between 2023 and 2024, a development that has worsened period poverty in the country.

Period poverty 

Period poverty, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is described as “the inability to afford and access menstrual products, sanitation and hygiene facilities and education and awareness to manage menstrual health.”

This issue is often shrouded in silence, stigma, and shame, exacerbating the suffering of those affected. Some women and girls who cannot afford sanitary products, often resort to the use of unhygienic materials, such as rags, newspapers, or even leaves.

However, the use of unhygienic materials or reusing sanitary products can lead to infections, reproductive tract diseases, and other health complications.

Acknowledging the existence of period poverty, the UN Women in a two-part explainer states that millions of women and girls across the world cannot afford menstrual products, causing  young women around the world to miss school as a result of the menace.

“This situation causes women to lose life-long opportunities for employment, to fulfil their potential and to contribute to our world on an equal footing to men,” part of the report read.

Unspoken struggles of students 

Campus Reporter findings, however, show that period poverty is common among students in tertiary institutions who find it difficult to meet their financial obligations amid Nigeria’s cost of living crisis.

For instance, Evelyn once missed one of her first classes in a semester because she could not afford sanitary pads and it almost ruined her academic performance for the semester. 

“Since I missed the class, I didn’t understand the foundation of the course until I started reading a few weeks before the test,” Evelyn said. 

At another time, she had to borrow sanitary pads from her friend’s room.

“It hit my self-esteem. I felt somehow—shy, insecure and embarrassed… like I’m borrowing pads,” Evelyn told Campus Reporter.

Like Evelyn, Biola Sarafa*, another 300-level student at UNILORIN has had her fair share of period poverty influenced by the rising cost of living. On one of her early days as a 100-level student, she received an unexpected message on her class’s WhatsApp group, announcing that identity (ID) cards would be distributed that day, and attendance was mandatory.

However, Biola was having her period and was unprepared. She had no sanitary pads to wear to school, leaving her in a difficult and embarrassing situation.

“I think my pads got finished and I was cash trapped. Since it was very important for me to go to school that day to get the ID card, I had to just use tissue paper,” she said.

But it didn’t end well because her pants-trousers eventually got stained with menstrual fluid while she was waiting in line to get the ID card.

“It was so embarrassing,” Bisola told Campus Reporter.

She added that period poverty has now become a regular phenomenon. Many times, she has had to stay indoors using toilet paper all through her menstrual period.

“Though I used to have money with me when it happened sometimes, the money was often to buy foodstuff. I even tried buying pads on occasion but when I heard how much the pad was, it was very expensive so I had to drop it. I didn’t buy it and I just had to get the food items I needed.” 

Biola told Campus Reporter that she usually gets worried when her period is approaching and she remembers has no pads to use.

Expert recommends reusable pads

While Nigerian ex-President Muhammadu Buhari signed a finance bill that exempted sanitary pads from Value Added Tax (VAT) in 2020, there hasn’t been any significant reduction in the prices of pads nor period poverty.

Speaking with Campus Reporter, Fisayo Olowu, who is a public health nurse also decried the use of unhygienic menstrual products such as clothes and toilet paper, explaining that they have both short and long-term effects on women’s health.

She, however, recommended reusable pads as effective solutions to period poverty.

“Unhygienic products have a way of causing recurring infections and the long-term impact is infertility,” Fisayo explained. “Women who don’t have access to sanitary products do not feel confident to participate in activities in their environment and wherever.”

Fisayo recommended training young women on how to make reusable pads and encouraging them to step it down to other young women in their community, to teach other people.

She emphasised that such training has to be a full cycle where women are not only taught to make their pads but also equipped with knowledge on how to care for, disinfect, wash, and store the pads for reuse.

“Reusable pads are eco-friendly, economical and like the best solution right now while we still push for the federal government to provide access to free menstrual products,” she concluded. 

Editor’s Note: The names of students interviewed for this report were altered to protect against stigma.

This story was funded by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) through its Empower Women in Media Cohort project.