Reflection 1: How a small hygiene-pad making machine can revolutionize menstrual health and empower women in rural areas.
Muruganantham, a school dropout from a poor family in southern India developed a sanitary pad making that revolutionized menstrual health for rural women and empowered them by providing them jobs and also allowing them to be safer.
70% of all reproductive diseases in India are caused by poor menstrual health. Moreover, only 12% of women across India use sanitary pads (2011 survey by AC Nielsen, commissioned by the Indian government). Instead women use old rags and other unhygienic substances such as sand, sawdust, leaves and even ash. This is due to traditions and prejudices as well as the availability and costs of the pads.
After multiple iterations, Muruganantham succeeded in creating a low-cost method for the production of sanitary towels. The process involves four simple steps. First, a machine similar to a kitchen grinder breaks down the hard cellulose into fluffy material, which is packed into rectangular cakes with another machine. The cakes are then wrapped in non-woven cloth and disinfected in an ultraviolet treatment unit. The whole process can be learned in an hour.
Muruganantham’s goal was to create user-friendly technology as he wanted not only to increase the use of sanitary pads, but also to create jobs for rural women. The machines are kept deliberately simple and skeletal so that they can be maintained by the women themselves.
Beyond the product itself and how it improves women’s health and provided economic opportunities, it is inspiring to see the design thinking process in action:
- The importance of understanding context (e.g. traditions and prejudices around menstruation) and analyzing what already exists (current products; technical options)
- Being ready to feel uncomfortable (the “menstrual man”)
- The value of prototyping and iteration
- Thinking beyond the product and taking a systemic perpective: women produce the pads; they get jobs; the machines can be maintained by women; also educating girls
- Words of mouth as a way to spread the innovation
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