Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has presented a private member bill proposing an amendment to remove the 15 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on menstrual hygiene products to parliament.
The proposed bill also seeks to push for the reclassification of the 20 per cent import tax on final consumer goods to zero-rated essential social goods.
Presenting the bill to the Clerk in parliament on Thursday, September 21, 2023, the Madina MP enunciated there is period poverty among some women in the country.
Francis-Xavier Sosu pointed out that the bill presented to parliament is aimed at addressing the menstrual hygiene needs of women and girls.
He said this was geared towards the Sustainable Development Goals one, three, four, five, six and 10.
“Despite the fact that about a quarter of the world’s population menstruates, 500 million people have been left without access to menstrual hygiene products, leading to period poverty,” the Madina MP said.
“Period poverty, thus refers to the struggle to afford menstrual products, and the increased economic vulnerability menstruating people face due to the financial burden posed by menstrual supplies,” he added.
The high cost of sanitary towels in Ghana has led some women to deploy other means and materials to use during menstruation.
From using untreated fabrics, tissues, to corn husk, some women, according to reports are using diapers when menstruating.
Sanitary items, labelled as luxurious by government attracts 32.5 percent tax on imported sanitary pads which is made up of 20 percent import duty and 12.5 percent in Value Added Tax.
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Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
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Sanitary pads