The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has partnered with Diatom Impact Foundation to donate sanitary pads to all female inmates in Nigerian Correctional Service facilities, as part of efforts to promote menstrual hygiene and women’s health within correctional centres.
In a statement by NMA Publicity Secretary Dr Mannir Bature on Wednesday, the initiative follows recent findings by a Senate inquiry panel, which identified poor menstrual hygiene among female inmates as a pressing concern.
In response to this, the NMA took up the challenge by promoting and partnering with Dr. Akindele Akintoye, founder of the Diatom Impact Foundation.
The NMA delegation, led by its President, Dr. Bala M. Audu, who was represented by the First Vice President, Dr. Benjamin Oluwatosin Olowojebutu, joined the Diatom Impact team led by Dr. Akindele Akintoye on a courtesy visit to the National Headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) in Abuja.
The delegation was warmly received by the NCS Comptroller General, Nwakuze, and his management team.
During the visit, the NMA highlighted its ongoing corporate social responsibility initiatives and reaffirmed its commitment to improving health and well-being across all sectors of society.
The association also announced plans, in partnership with the Diatom Impact Foundation, to send mental health staff and psychiatrists to correctional facilities across the country to provide psychological support to inmates.
In his remarks, Akintoye emphasized the importance of philanthropy as an expression of humanity and pledged to sustain his foundation’s humanitarian projects and expand them in the future.
He noted that Diatom Impact would fully sponsor the mental health initiative in correctional facilities across the country.
In response, the NCS Comptroller General thanked both organizations for their thoughtful intervention and expressed his readiness for future collaborations aimed at improving the well-being of inmates and transforming correctional facilities into truly rehabilitative environments.
The visit concluded with an exchange of plaques and group photographs to commemorate the collaboration and donation exercise.
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