North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has called for incontinence bins to be made available in men’s toilets by signing a joint letter addressed to the Minister for Health and Secondary Care, to mark International Men’s Day 2023.
International Men’s Day, taking place annually on 19th November, celebrates the positive contribution that men make to society and to raise awareness of issues related to men’s health and well-being.
This week, the Dispose with Dignity campaign held an event in Parliament ahead of International Men’s Day to brief MPs on the challenges that men experiencing incontinence face when trying to dispose of hygiene products.
Incontinence is a common side effect of prostate cancer treatment, and is the most common cancer in men – affecting one in eight in the UK. The campaign recently ran a survey of 504 men with experience of urinary incontinence and found 2 in 5 men (44%) experience anxiety about using public toilets, over a third leave the house less often (38%) and almost 8 in 10 (78%) stated they feel anxious about a lack of suitable facilities when leaving the home.
The Dispose with Dignity campaign is jointly delivered by phs Group, the UK’s leading hygiene services provider , and Prostate Cancer UK, the largest men’s health charity in the UK. The campaign calls for the government to change legislation and regulations to mandate that sanitary bins be provided in all male toilets to allow men to dispose of their incontinence products with dignity.
Justin T0mlinson MP joined parliamentary colleagues in signing the letter to the Minister for Health and Secondary Care which notes that “men are resorting to desperate strategies to overcome the near certainty that they will be unable to find somewhere…to throw away used sanitary products” and that “small policy and regulatory changes” are all that is required to ensure all non-domestic male toilets offer bins.
Justin Tominson MP said “I fully support the Dispose with Dignity campaign and its aim of ensuring that men who experience incontinence are able to live a life free of anxiety that they won’t be able to dispose of their incontinence products.
Men need to be encouraged to talk more about their experience of incontinence to help reduce the stigma attached and shed light on this important issue. I look forward to the Minister’s response to our calls for sanitary bins to be installed in all non-domestic male toilets.”
