Next year, the Government of the Generalitat will allocate 8.5 million euros to facilitate universal and free access to reusable menstrual products, a measure that is expected to benefit around 2.5 million people among menstruating women, non-binary people and trans men.
This was explained yesterday by the Minister for Equality and Feminism, Tània Verge, after signing an agreement with the Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges of Catalonia so that it is the pharmacies that, from the first quarter of 2024, distribute these products and advise in a personalized way women on issues related to menstruation or their reproductive rights when they go to withdraw them.
Each woman will be able to pick up the product she prefers from pharmacies that are accredited for this - a menstrual cup, a cloth pad or reusable menstrual pants - simply by presenting a QR code (personal and non-transferable) that she will receive in the La Meva application Health.
Verge emphasized that this is a pioneering initiative in the world that guarantees a new right, that of menstrual equity. "It is a very ambitious action that allows progress in terms of social justice, because it combats menstrual poverty by facilitating free access to these products; of climate justice, because it will contribute to reducing the more than 9,000 tons of waste produced every year in Catalonia due to the use of single-use tampons and pads, and of gender justice, because advice will be offered to put an end to to the stigma and taboos around the rule that slow down women's health", assured the minister.
As an example, he recalled that the false belief that "it's normal for the period to hurt" can delay many diagnoses of endometriosis.
And he stressed that the free distribution of reusable menstrual products will also mean significant savings for women and their families because "if they choose to use the cup, for example, they will spend around 145 euros in their entire fertile life, compared to the 2,500 euros they would have to pay if they use tampons and disposable pads".
The initiative is part of the 2023-2025 comprehensive menstrual and climacteric equity plan that was approved in March and which, in addition to this universal distribution of cups, panties and reusable pads through pharmacies, foresees other initiatives to facilitate the access of women at risk of exclusion or poverty to menstrual products, as well as educational measures.
In this sense, the agreement signed yesterday with the Council of Pharmaceutical Associations of Catalonia includes a training plan for the owners of pharmacies with the aim of turning these professionals and their establishments into points of reference, advice and support in matters related to menstruation and menopause.
The cost of this training is included in the 8.5 million euros that, according to Verge, will be allocated to this initiative in 2024. It will be necessary to add the possible compensation to pharmacists for this new advisory service, remuneration that, according to the president of the College, Jordi Casas, has not yet been finalized and remains subject to negotiation.
Casas believes that this measure strengthens the role of pharmacists as "agents of health, proximity and trust", and the minister expressed her hope that all or almost all pharmacies in Catalonia, a total of 3,272 offices, will join the project. "They are the guarantee of being able to reach all women in the country, no matter where they live, and they are also places of reference of trust", remarked Verge.
