The continuum of menstrual health through the life course

While questions around the relationship between access to sanitary products and school absenteeism have helped to put menstrual health onto the research agenda in eastern and southern Africa, scholars have also sought to highlight the complex relationship between menstrual-related factors and absenteeism beyond access to products.1 In a cross-sectional analysis of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from 44 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), published in The Lancet Global Health, Miranda Starr and colleagues2 found menstrual-related absenteeism from work, school, or social activities to be prevalent across LMICs among women and girls aged 15–49 years, but especially in Africa and Asia.