Implementation of Hygienic Products and Medical Systems in Developing Countries
Open Access
- Author:
- Gibbard, Sydney
- Area of Honors:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- John Gershenson, Thesis Supervisor
Justin Lee Brown, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Menstrual products
Developing Countries
Medicine
Menstruation
Biomedical Engineering
Humanitarian Engineering
Refugees
Women Equality
Women's Rights
Period Poverty - Abstract:
- Globally, one of the biggest barriers to gender equality and socioeconomic mobility is the lack of accessibility to menstrual hygiene products. Female academic success is impeded by insufficient hygienic systems for adolescents which impacts their occupational freedom, income potential, and ultimately societal status. These issues are felt disproportionately by refugees where poverty is very prominent. The Pennington School’s Applied Science Program has worked in partnership with the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, Africa to create a reusable menstrual product that disrupts the system of gender inequality in Dzaleka through their Women in STEM Solving Problems (WISSP) Program. This thesis examines how the WISSP reusable menstrual pad compares to United States pad products and Malawian menstrual alternative solutions in a wetback test and an absorbency test. This thesis also examines the social and economic implications that the WISSP menstrual pad would have on refugees when women could sew and sell the pads themselves with locally sourced materials. This thesis finds that the WISSP reusable menstrual pad provides a sustainable economic and hygienic solution for women in the Dzaleka refugee camps because of its comparable performance to alternative menstrual solutions, ability to make alternative menstrual solutions more suitable for long term usage, and its unique impact on societal barriers for women in refugee camps.