The IMVAHA Project
improving menstrual and vaginal health for all: a study in Cameroon, Peru and Switzerland
The IMVAHA Mission
Menstrual health affects half of our population, yet we know shockingly little about it. It is important that we finally start addressing menstruation, start breaking the taboo and start understanding how women view and experience it. Everyone who has ever had a period can help us filling in these gaps in our current knowledge! By sharing your experience, knowledge or a swab of your vaginal microbiome (it's not as scary as it sounds, promise!) you can contribute to our research! These new insights will be important, not only to improve the menstrual health of women around the globe, they will also be big step to achieve gender equality. We also invite interested organisations and fellow researchers to be part of the IMVAHA project.
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IMVAHA
improving menstrual health for all
Raise awareness of menstrual health and the vaginal microbiome and empower women to improve understanding of themselves.
International approach and exchange with research locations in Peru, Cameroon and Switzerland.
Studying the impact of menstrual products on the vaginal microbiome.
Multi-disciplinary collaboration. Researchers come from various fields, such as biomedicine, medicine, epidemiology, public health, social sciences, humanities, arts, informatics, data science, immunology, molecular biology etc.
Determine women's criteria in their choices for managing their menstrual health.
Advocate for the prioritization of women's health, especially menstrual health, on global research agendas.
What is the vaginal microbiome?
Who are you? And how many? Everyone of us coexists with trillions of microbial cells. Also the vagina is home to millions of bacteria, which we call the "vaginal microbiome". It protects the vagina against pathogens and its balance is very dynamic. Unfortunately, research on the vaginal microbiome is still very limited. And we are here to change that!
How do we intend to study the vaginal microbiome?
We want to learn more about how women manage their menstrual hygiene, what their preferences for menstrual products are and how these may effect their bodies.
IMVAHA needs you!
Interested? We welcome everyone to take part in this important study !
