Arunachalam Muruganantham is being hailed as India's new hero. Arunachalam, a school drop-out from a rural area in southern India, has taken it upon himself to address the state of menstrual hygiene among women in India and has created machines capable of giving millions of women access to better lives. His invention manufactures low-cost sanitary pads, which he originally made for his wife.
After discovering his wife was hiding dirty rags from him (because of taboos around menstruation in India, women are too embarrassed to wash and dry clothes in the sun) Arunachalam made her a sanitary pad out of cotton. After months of testing (he convinced convincing local students to help and even wore them himself by creating a 'uterus' from a football and goat's blood) he had perfected his design and began making more machines, which meant women across India would be able to make their own products.
But his invention nearly cost him everything – his family, friends and all his money. Locals responded negatively – ostracising him from the village – and his wife left him 18 months after he began his project, unable to cope with the negative attention the project received.
But despite everything, four-and-a-half years later, Arunachalam finally succeeded. He has now built over 250 machines, which have been sent to the most underdeveloped states in India, and hopes to employ a million women to work them, providing clean, hygienic sanitary products to women everywhere. Pretty impressive for somebody who doesn't even get periods, right? (Oh and the good news is that his wife returned, hooray.)
Only 20% of the female population in India has access to sanitary products and studies estimate only 12% of women in India regularly use them. Instead, when faced with that time of the month, they are expected to re-used unhygienic dirty rags (which are unlikely to be washed, for fear of the 'dirty' product being seen) or are forced to sit on hay and wait for their period to pass. Other unhygienic options include sand, sawdust, leaves and ash. Unimaginable, isn't it? But these options aren't just unpleasant, they're also incredibly dangerous. Experts estimate that 70% of all reproductive diseases in India are caused by poor menstrual hygiene and it can even affect maternal mortality.
Arunachalam, you're a hero.