Prime
Pleas for tax waiver on pads resurface again
What you need to know:
- Conservation n tax waivers for sanitary towels once again become prominent as citizens look to better women's health
Dar es Salaam. The call for tax waiver on sanitary pads has resurfaced, with stakeholders saying the move was crucial in addressing challenges of reproductive health facing women and girls in the country.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) stakeholders renewed the call here saying there was a need for concerted investment in curbing the burden of diseases resulting from poor sanitation services, lack of hygiene and water supply.
Speaking at the launching of the new WaterAid Tanzania Country Strategy 2023-2028, the Menstrual Hygiene Coalition member of the secretariat, Mr Severine Allute said tax waiver would address health concerns facing women and girls.
“I had the privilege to speak to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on behalf of WASH stakeholders. I presented to him the need to remove tax on menstrual materials as they did in 2018,” he said.
“I further asked why condoms are issued for free but not pads?” said Mr Allute during a plenary discussion, attracting the premiers’ attention who graced the event,” he added.
Dr Victoria Luhiru from the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) said the government took a quick decision to suspend the tax waiver in 2019.
“The government was supposed to analyse the trend of relief and address identified challenges. The study has to be done to establish why the price of sanitary pads remained high despite the relief,” she said.
She said the Medical Store Department (MSD) could be entrusted with production of sanitary pads and make them available to users at affordable prices, as was the case for face masks during Covid-19 which were manufactured by public institutions.
“The private partners should increase investment in the area in order to provide the material to citizens, free of charge, as is being done with condoms,” she advised.
A secondary teacher, Ms Lahisha Ngomandodo said girl students hardly meet the costs of sanitary pads leading to failure to attend classes.
“Some students opt for alternative materials that are unsafe for their health as others decide to remain at home adversely affecting their academic performance,” she said.
During the event, Mr Majaliwa pledged to single-handedly take the matter to the responsible ministry.
He referred to Tanzania Economic Update Report 2023 by the World Bank which shows that the country loses Sh5.6 trillion yearly due to lack of access to clean and safe water and sanitation services.
“I would like to assure you that through the budgets of the ministries of Water, Health and Education, budgets have been significantly increased being the country’s annual strategic plan aimed at enabling the ministries to provide better services,” he said.
He called on the private sector’s collaboration in addressing the challenges, promising to commence frequent dialogue with the private sector in order to achieve the free provision of these materials.
Since the government’s budget was tabled in Parliament, stakeholders’ hopes lie on the Finance Bill and Budget proposals’ deliberations, believing that they still have room to succeed.
