LOCAL manufacturers of sanitary pads have scaled down operations owing to costly
imported raw materials, especially from China and South Africa, raising fears
that the product might not be readily available to local consumers at
reasonable prices.
The country is now overly reliant on imported finished
products. One of the major local producers, Onsdale Enterprises — which trades
as Farai Family Products — told The Sunday Mail that capacity at its
manufacturing plant has since dropped by more than 80 percent.
Last year, Government suspended customs duty and removed
value-added tax (VAT) on sanitary wear for the 12-month period to November 2019
to cushion underprivileged women and girls.
The intervention was expected to give local manufactures
the time to recover.
Onsdale Enterprises marketing manager Paddington
Mupfururirwa told The Sunday Mail that raw materials needed to produce sanitary
wear are very expensive, hence their plant has since been forced to run at 15
percent capacity.
“Under normal circumstances, the company has to produce an
average of seven million sanitary wear per month, but we have scaled down to
less than a million per month.”
The company, he added, was currently carrying out research
on materials that can be used to produce reusable alternatives.
Notwithstanding Government’s move to waive duty and VAT
through Statutory Instrument (SI) 264 of 2018 and SI 265 of 2018, respectively,
retail outlets continue to raise prices of the product.
Of late, prices have risen from $3,45 to $17,99, while
tampons are now quoted at $20,59, up from $3,59.
MDC-T legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, who has
been pushing Government to provide free sanitary wear in schools, said there
was need for a legislative framework to make the products available for
learners.
“Although the Government has introduced duty-free for
sanitary wear, the prices are being determined by the interbank market (foreign
exchange rate), which is sometimes at the rate of 1:10.
“I am putting efforts so that Government put in place a
legislation to introduce free sanitary wear to schools so that students
continue going to school even during their menstruation cycle.
“The economic situation is also affecting the production of
sanitary wear in our country because of expensive raw materials needed for
production,” she said.
Women’s Action Group (WAG) director Edna Masiyiwa said
soaring prices of sanitary wear are putting women’s health on the line.
“Sanitary wear should be available on the market and it
should be affordable in local currency in both the urban and rural areas.
“The general population is no longer affording the
health-recommended sanitary wear as most workers’ salaries have not been increased.
“There are no other healthy and hygienic alternatives to
sanitary wear, hence we would like to negotiate with those who sell and produce
sanitary wear to bear with women in price tagging.”
It is believed that there is a socio-economic cost for failure
to make sanitary wear readily available, especially to girls of school-going
age.
There have been reports of learners who miss school during
their menstrual cycles. Sunday Mail
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