Call for papers - Menstrual health and hygiene in low-resource settings

Guest Editors

Bhuputra Panda, PhD, School of Public Health, KIIT Deemed to be University, India

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 23 July 2025

BMC Women’s Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Menstrual health and hygiene in low-resource settings.

This Collection aims to highlight challenges faced by menstruating females with limited access to menstrual hygiene materials and facilities and to advance our understanding of the vital effects of menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) on women and girls' health. Menstruation is a normal biological process that is crucial for women's reproductive health, but it can pose significant challenges for those lacking access to menstrual information, hygiene products, and facilities, leading to health issues and social stigma. Recent advancements in menstrual health and hygiene, including innovative products and educational programs, aimed to reduce period poverty and empower women and girls. Continued research is essential to enhance menstrual health initiatives across diverse contexts.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 5: Gender Equality.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Bhuputra Panda, PhD, School of Public Health, KIIT Deemed to be University, India

Bhuputra Panda is a well-accomplished public health professional of national repute, with over two decades of teaching, training, and practice in public health. He holds a doctoral degree from TISS (Mumbai) and is a Gold Medalist in Health Administration from the same institute. He worked for about a decade on specific thematic domains and in international organizations, such as, Pathfinder International (adolescent reproductive health), Sightsavers International (eye care), and Ministry of Health, Government of Odisha (capacity building). From 2010 onwards he is actively involved in the academic and research world (PHFI) focusing more on health systems health services research, public health teaching, training and advocacy. His key domains of interest are health systems and health services research, policy and governance in health, maternal and child health, heat stress, tobacco control, and program evaluation. He has collaborated with several international and national donor agencies, research organizations and academic institutions, including the BMGF, Tata Trusts, Govt of India - Ministry of Health, Government of India - Ministry of AYUSH, UNICEF, Avanta Foundation, World Food Program, Welcome Trust, and NHM Odisha.

About the Collection

BMC Women’s Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Menstrual health and hygiene in low-resource settings.

Menstruation (also known as a period) is the regular discharge of blood and some tissues from the uterus through the vagina. It is an integral aspect of a woman's reproductive health and overall health and well-being. However, this normal physiological process becomes particularly challenging for women and girls with very limited access to the menstrual information, education, hygiene products and/or facilities, and appropriate services, thereby increasing their vulnerability to health issues, social stigma, school or work absenteeism, and diminished quality of life.

Recent advances in menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) include innovative menstrual products, community-based education programs, and policy initiatives aiming at reducing period poverty. These efforts have helped address the stigma surrounding menstruation and empower women and girls to advocate for their own health needs. Further research is vital to improve all aspects of MHH under various cultural, socioeconomic, climatological, and conflict contexts, and overall health of women and girls.

We invite researchers from the fields of public health, gynecology, obstetrics, sociology, psychology or any other relevant field to publish their original research on MHH and period poverty in low-resource settings, including but not limited to, publications on:

Effects of menstrual hygiene products and facilities on women and girl’s health
Health risks associated with poor menstrual hygiene practices and effective interventions in mitigating these risks
Innovations in menstrual health management, including novel products, hygiene facilities, distribution mechanisms, and awareness campaigns tailored to resources- deprived populations
Factors associated with menstrual health and menstrual health management
Strategies promoting menstrual health of women and girls, particularly for those in low-resources regions or countries
Menstrual education and support for adolescents’ transition into young women

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 5: Gender Equality.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Menstrual health and hygiene in low-resource settings" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.