The government wants to fight menstrual poverty.
Reusable periodic protection (panties and menstrual cups) will thus be reimbursed "from next year" by Social Security, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne announced on France 5 on Monday March 6.
This measure will concern "all young women under the age of 25" and the measure will be included in the 2024 budget, she added.
>> To read: The fight against menstrual poverty, "a public health issue"
To be reimbursed, these periodic protections will have to be purchased in pharmacies, which will be possible "without a prescription", she further specified.
“It is unthinkable that women cannot have the protections they need,” commented the Prime Minister.
In mid-February, during a National Council for Refoundation (CNR) in Matignon devoted to youth and daily life, around forty young people discussed with the head of government and several ministers on subjects related to daily life and made various proposals that could help improve their daily lives.
To fight against menstrual precariousness, young women had notably suggested making hygienic products free for those under 26.
"This question, it is necessary that we put it definitively in the museum and that we bring answers to the young girls and young women", had then reacted the Prime Minister.
The previous government initiative to combat menstrual precariousness was the installation, in February 2021, of distributors of sanitary protection in Crous university residences and university health services.
With AFP
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