COVID-19 Pandemisinde Gün Yüzüne Çıkan Bir Sorun: Regl Yoksulluğu ve Halk Sağlığı Hemşiresinin Sorumlulukları

Abstract

Menstruation is an issue which requires physical, mental and social adaptation for individuals. The vast majority of menstruating individuals face with serious problems in managing their monthly menstrual cycles in a healthy and respectable way. Period poverty, defined as the lack of access to menstrual products, is a noteworthy public health problem in the world which creates disadvantages in education, work and social life of individuals. In this regard, social media campaigns which increase public awareness and some attempts to repeal or reduce taxes are carried out across the globe. Period poverty has become more evident by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the management of inequalities arising from period poverty, it is a necessity for public health nurses, who are primarily responsible for the protection and promotion of public health, to use their education, guidance, counselling, advocacy and collaborative roles effectively. In this review, it was aimed to deal with the concept of period poverty, a neglected public health problem and whose individual and social effects have become more perceptible during the COVID-19 pandemic, from a proactive perspective in terms of the roles and responsibilities of the public health nurse.