Menstrual Hygiene Day has made its way into public discourse bringing with it the much-needed conversations and the due attention that menstrual health and hygiene have required
Vidhika Kohli
The word ‘Period’ has seldom found mention with healthy conversation, more so in the south east Asian region. To ‘Talk’ about ‘Periods’ has almost always been considered inappropriate and freely discussing the matter has garnered stares or judgement. This presents new challenges because matters related to Menstrual Health and Hygiene have mostly been addressed within whispers; silently and hesitantly.
The matter was almost always avoided, barely being talked about within society and even rarely being covered by social organizations or the media.
But this is all changed with Menstrual Hygiene Day, a carefully thought-out initiative launched in 2014 by WASH United, which dedicated itself towards normalizing the conversation and empowering girls, women and people who menstruate all around the world. Globally, Governments, NGOs, and media houses slowly but steadily, begun to focus on Menstrual Hygiene Day and utilized their resources to spread awareness, address the issues, and talk about periods.
It the year 2025 and Menstrual Hygiene Day has made its way into public discourse bringing with it the much-needed conversations and the due attention that menstrual health and hygiene have required.
One such initiative operating in line with Menstrual Hygiene Day is ‘Let’s Talk Periods.’
Launched in 2023 as a socially responsible public awareness & action effort by IFI Foundation in collaboration with OdishaLIVE Media and Swasthya Plus Network, the ‘Let’s Talk Periods’ campaign is dedicated to having some much-needed conversations around the Period and normalizing menstruation in Odisha.
‘Let’s Talk Periods’ combines informative content, digital media, doctors, experts, media personalities, community programs and open discussions to address the stigma and misconceptions surrounding menstruation while also providing women and young girls a platform to openly discuss their experiences, problems and gain access to the resources and support they may need.
The campaign has over the course of a few years been able to effectively raise awareness around menstruation, the importance of menstrual health and hygiene, and bust myths and misconceptions surrounding the period.
In previous years, key videos series introduced by ‘Let’s Talk Periods’ include Menarche to Menopause: a complete video series on Menstrual Health and Hygiene, a one-on-one interview with a doctor where myths were properly addressed and advice for managing menstrual health and hygiene was shared, the ‘Let’s Talk Periods’ talk show which also featured an interactive audience segment within the video, The Slum Story: Adolescent Girls Narrating the MH Stories of their Communities, and My Periods Story: Menarche Story of Celebrities and Socially Influential Personalities, amongst other videos surrounding menstruation and menstrual health and hygiene.
This year for Menstrual Hygiene Day 2025, ‘Let’s Talk Periods’ is dedicated to bringing new editions of previous series, continue their efforts towards fostering community involvement and discussions with events and similar campaign initiatives, while simultaneously spreading the word and awareness across all social media platforms and creating content in various formats be it written, long-form or short-form videos or reels.
With the mission of creating a #PeriodFriendlyWorld at the center of all activities surrounding Menstrual Hygiene Day, ‘Let’s Talk Periods’ hopes to bring us a #PeriodFriendlyOdisha by 2029.
A #PeriodFriendlyOdisha is one where the period is no longer stigmatized, where there is provision of education about menstruation from an early age to all, everyone has access to and can afford period products of their choice and everyone has access to period-friendly toilets and menstrual health services.
So let us spread awareness. Stay Informed. Let’s Talk Periods.
