PACK POINTS
A sanitary solution
“This project is just one of many examples of how a university without a medical school like NC State can have a major impact on global health.”
In impoverished and developing countries, monthly periods are a major cause for concern among women. The lack of affordable, quality sanitary pads results in women missing up to 50 days of school annually — thereby compromising their educational and professional potential.
Researchers at NC State are helping to combat the problem by designing affordable pads made from natural, available materials that will allow for local production and sale.
“This project is just one of many examples of how a university without a medical school like NC State can have a major impact on global health,” said Dr. Marian McCord, associate professor of biomedical engineering and textile engineering, chemistry and science.
McCord was contacted by Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), a social enterprise dedicated to developing a franchise model led by young women to manufacture and distribute affordable, high-quality and environmentally friendly sanitary pads in underserved parts of the world. Former President Bill Clinton named the SHE project one of the “commitments to action” at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting in September.
McCord and other NC State researchers are using their knowledge in areas such as nonwovens, wood and paper science, and medical textiles to develop a sanitary pad from materials readily available in local areas — such as the fiber from banana stems in Rwanda. The pads will be sold by community health workers for 30 percent less than the available brand.
Others involved in the project include Drs. Lucian
Lucia, Medwick
Byrd and
Hasan Jameel in the Department of Wood and Paper Science and Dr. Russell
Gorga in the Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science. The final
prototype was produced by David W. Allen, a senior in textile engineering. 