A school dropout from a poor family in southern India has revolutionised menstrual health for rural women in developing countries by inventing a simple machine they can use to make cheap sanitary pads.
Arunachalam Muruganantham is an inventor from rural Coimbatore in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India who uncovered the need for an inexpensive solution to unsanitary and unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India. He created and patented a machine which could manufacture low-cost sanitary pads for less than a third of the cost of commercial pads.
He has plans to expand the availability of his product to 106 countries.
Invention
Muruganantham founded the company, Jayaashree Industries, which markets these machines to rural women all over India and provides them with employment and a way to uplift them from poverty. His innovation has been praised for its simplicity and cost-effectiveness, and his commitment to social aid has earned him several awards. Despite offers from several corporate entities to commercialize his venture, he has refused to sell out and continues to provide these machines to self-help groups (SHGs) run by women all over India.
Women's wellness
Muruganantham's invention has changed the lives of women in India. In some countries, reusable or makeshift pads are still used to collect menstrual blood. Rags, soil, and mud are also reportedly used for collecting menstrual flow. Muruganantham's machine creates jobs and income for many women, and affordable pads afford many more women the opportunity to lead regular lives during menstruation.
Shaded from the sun beneath a large archway, one of them, 25-year-old Umar Parthak, said of the napkins: "We feel a lot more freedom. It gives us a lot more freedom to go out. Also, the rags that we previously used were not hygienic."[3]
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Source : wiki, youtube, ted, Jayaashree Industries
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