Week unclouded. Free pads in schools, new vaginal test, abortion petition.
News can be overwhelming to follow. Important news bites can get lost amongst all the hard and breaking news. Here are a couple of the headlines from this week and beyond that impact women.
Free menstrual products for all school girls
Photo by Unsplash
Students in Malta’s middle and secondary schools will soon be able to access free sanitary pads and tampons thanks to a new government initiative.
A €439,000 tender will fund 142 vending machines for 58 schools. Each machine will offer two types of pads and one type of tampon, as reported on Times of Malta.
Access will be managed with systems like QR codes or dongles to prevent misuse. The move is part of a broader push for gender equality in education
Malta hits signature goal for EU abortion petition
Photo by Leyla Mjvla on Unsplash
An EU-wide petition supporting abortion access has crossed the required number of signatures in Malta, with 4,410 online and more on paper.
The campaign, led by NGO My Voice, My Choice, calls for EU funds to help women in countries where abortion is restricted. The idea is a voluntary system where member states that allow abortion would receive funding to support access for women in need.
Malta has the EU’s strictest abortion laws — only allowing the procedure if a woman’s life is in danger and approved by three doctors.
New vaginal health test available
Photo BioArte website
A vaginal microbiome test that claims to detect all infections in a single swab – including HPV, Candida, parasites and STIs – is set to be available in Malta.
The Malta-developed test follows three years of research and trials. It was created and produced in San Gwann laboratory BioArte and provides a snapshot of a woman’s vaginal microenvironment.
“Microbiologist and nutritionist Manuele Biazzo, who is BioArte’s scientific director and CEO, said the test aims to help women understand their “microbial self” and make changes if the balance is disrupted,” Times of Malta reported.
Share your news
Do you have some women-related news you want to share? Or perhaps an idea or topic you feel deserves to be spoken about and ‘unclouded’? Or an inspiring story to share?
If so you can comment below or send an email on hello@womanunclouded.com so we can discuss how to get your voice heard.