Menstrual Health & Hygiene.
Unlocking women's power — developing fiscal and regulatory reform for affordable access in Kenya.
to discover more
The Price of Dignity.
For many, choices are shaped by affordability rather than preference. When products are unavailable or unaffordable, some resort to unsafe and unhygienic alternatives — a silent crisis that demands action.
Access shaped by availability.
Adolescent girls across Kenya face difficulties obtaining menstrual products when they need them most.
Are not using their preferred menstrual product.
Buy directly from local shops — making availability the key determinant of access.
Face a persistent monthly struggle to access products — every single cycle.
= 1 in 10 adolescent girls
“At times when I don't get pads, I use a piece of cloth.”Adolescent girl — Garissa County, Kenya
How much of what you pay at the counter exists only because of how the product is taxed.
Cheaper lifecycle cost of reusable pads — yet taxed harder than disposables.
What a pack of pads
actually costs.
Affordability is the binding constraint on menstrual health in Kenya, and it is a constraint with severe consequences. The ICRH-K/UNFPA/USAID study found that while 92.5% of adolescent girls use disposable pads, one in three faces frequent difficulty accessing them; 76.2% buy from shops and only 14.8% access products through schools. Retail prices of KES 40–100 per pack recur monthly, and cheaper pads are reported to be thinner and lower quality so the poorest pay the most per unit of protection.
Source: RHSC Menstrual Health Product Policy Simulation & Equity Tool — Kenya Case Study (2026); Value Chain Cost Model, stakeholder validation, Aug 2026.
“Some of them talk about pieces of blankets, mattresses, leaves, some very unconventional materials which pose the risk of infection. They will not provide the necessary protection, so the girls will encounter leakages and when they soil their clothes, especially in a social setup, it can be a very bad source of stigma to the girls.”County respondent — Bungoma, Kenya
Kenya has taken steps before.
None of this would be a first. Parliament has cut the fiscal burden on menstrual products twice already — and granted exactly the relief now being asked for to a different sector as recently as last year.
2004
VAT exemption introduced on pads and tampons.
2016
Exemption extended to key raw materials.
2023
The preferential import-fee rate manufacturers had under the Finance Act 2019 is withdrawn — the one reversal in the sequence.
2025
A full 0% rate on the same fees is granted to mosquito-repellent manufacturers. The ask is to match it.
Source: MH Fiscal & Regulatory Reform — Abridged Validation Report (NAYA Kenya / UNFPA Kenya, July 2026); validation presentation, 4 August 2026.
