Pharmac’s decision a tough one
Reports of young Kiwi women being forced to use newspapers or rags should be enough to shut up any contrarian man.
sanitary products may in some cases end up with infections or health complications, but menstruation is a normal bodily function.
Funding pads and tampons should be a preventative health measure, rather than the responsive treatment that Pharmac typically provides for.
Instead, we already have the social agencies in place to ensure poorer New Zealanders have the access to sanitary products they need. It’s just a question of funding.
And surely all of us will concur that it’s nuts to have young women missing school or getting sick for want of a few basic sanitary items.
The Government has stepped up its funding — the $50,000 it pledged to the children’s charity KidsCan will make a significant difference in accessibility.
But wouldn’t most of us, men and What’s your view? letters@hos.co.nz women alike, support a better system for providing pads and tampons to young and poor New Zealand women? The things can be alarmingly, prohibitively, expensive. Newspapers and rags! Still, maybe we’d just prefer a tax cut.