The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have strengthened their collaboration to promote the safety, quality, acceptability and affordability of menstrual health products in Nigeria.
The Director-General of SON, Dr. Ifeanyi Okeke, disclosed this at the Nigeria Menstrual Health Product Forum 2026 in Lagos, themed, “Driving Standards and Policy Reform for Affordable Menstrual Products.”
Okeke said stronger collaboration among regulators, government agencies, manufacturers and development partners was critical to ensuring that women and girls have access to menstrual products that meet required standards without becoming unaffordable.
“Quality and affordability must not be treated as competing objectives,” he said.
He added that SON would continue to support measures aimed at strengthening standards, consumer protection and regulatory oversight in the menstrual health products sector.
According to him, effective standards would not only protect consumers but also build confidence in the market and encourage responsible manufacturing.
At the forum, UNFPA Gender/GBV Management Specialist, Dr. Zubaida Abubakar, called for the establishment of sanitary pad banks in schools nationwide to ensure that girls do not miss classes or examinations because of menstruation.
Abubakar said rising costs of menstrual products, inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, and limited access to quality products were worsening period poverty among women and girls.
She urged governments, civil society organisations, donors and philanthropists to support school-based pad banks that would provide emergency menstrual supplies to girls who begin their periods while in school.
However, she stressed that the provision of sanitary pads must be accompanied by adequate WASH facilities and safe disposal systems.
Abubakar also disclosed that UNFPA was working with stakeholders to examine taxes, duties and levies affecting manufacturers and importers of menstrual products, with a view to reducing production costs and improving affordability.
She cited World Bank estimates that about 24 per cent of Nigerian schoolgirls regularly miss school because of inadequate menstrual materials and WASH infrastructure, while UNICEF estimates that about 37 million women and girls in Nigeria experience period poverty.
Also speaking, Deputy Director, Child Development Department, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Mariam Shuaibu, said the availability of disposable and reusable menstrual products in the market did not automatically guarantee their quality.
“It’s not just about having products in the market, but we want to ensure that those products meet the standards and quality that is desired to be used by women and girls in Nigeria,” she said.
Shuaibu noted that period poverty went beyond the inability to purchase sanitary pads, explaining that a girl could have access to menstrual products but still lack water, privacy or a safe place for disposal.
The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs also disclosed that Nigeria’s National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management had undergone consultations across the six geopolitical zones and had been validated.
The ministry said efforts were underway to secure Federal Executive Council approval, followed by adoption of the policy by states.
The stakeholders agreed that stronger product standards, supportive policies, improved WASH infrastructure and coordinated interventions would be necessary to build a menstrual health products sector that guarantees safety, quality, acceptability and affordability for women and girls across Nigeria.
