Cate Campbell calls for public hospitals to ‘pad up’
Queensland Olympic swimming champion Cate Campbell has slammed the situation at hospitals across the state and issued an urgent call to action to fix the issue that has resulted in an essential item often being unavailable to patients.
QLD News
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Queensland Olympic swimming champion Cate Campbell has issued a call to action to make female sanitary products mandatory in Australian hospitals.
Campbell, 29, took to social media on Wednesday morning to raise awareness for the issue as it was not mandatory for pads and tampons to be stocked in public hospitals across Australia.
“I can not believe it’s 2022 and I’m having to post this,” she wrote.
“Did you know it’s not mandatory for Public Hospitals to stock period supplies? This means many women arrive in hospital and are forced to use toilet paper, gauze or nothing at all.”
“This is just another example of gender inequality – if men had periods, we would not be having this discussion.”
Campbell shared a petition launched by Share the Dignity to make it mandatory for public hospitals in Australia to stock period products.
According to the Share the Dignity petition, patients in public hospitals had access to band-aids, bandages, painkillers and incontinence aids but not sanitary products.
“Through the #PadUpPublicHealth campaign, Share the Dignity has listened to thousands of harrowing stories from Australian’s who have not had access to period products while in hospital. Some have been forced to bleed through their hospital gowns,” they wrote.
“Others have had to use unsuitable alternatives like dressings or adult nappies.
“While some hospitals do provide period products, it is not mandatory for them to do so.”
The charity organisation has called for a Federal policy mandating the provision of free pads, upon request, to all patients being cared for in public hospitals nationally.
The petition closes at 11.59pm AEDT on Wednesday night.
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