Feasibility Study of Reusable Cloth Pad as a Menstrual Absorbent for Setup of Production Units in the North Eastern Region of India

Under the Science and Technology Interventions in the North East Region (STINER) initiative by the Government of India, feasibility of establishing a reusable cloth pad production unit was scoped through the reusable Eco Femme cloth pad user trial among 50 women each in Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura in the North East Region. This study is the first to document the existing menstrual practices in these three states. Menstrual product preferences and menstrual practices were found to vary across the three states. The results from the three-month cloth pad trial indicate a significant reduction in self-reported adverse reproductive health symptoms (p-value < 0.01). Women rated the performance of the cloth pad with a median score of 4 out of a possible 5, based on attributes of comfort, absorption and leak prevention, thus passing the feasibility check and paving the way for production setup. Following this, cloth pad production units were set up in seven states of the North Eastern Region over 2018–19 under different business structures by Eco Femme and Jatan Sansthan. The production units went beyond the mandate of manufacturing by including (a) menstrual health management training and (b) working capital and operational support for 6 months. The production units directly address the Sustainable Development Goals of ‘Good Health and Well-being’, ‘Gender Equality’, ‘Reduced Inequalities’, ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’ and ‘Climate Action’ through sustainable women-run units producing healthy and eco-friendly menstrual absorbents for women consumers through local supply chains, with positive environmental and socio-economic impacts.