SNP MP calls for incontinence pad bins in men’s toilets

AN SNP MP is backing a campaign for hygiene bins in men’s toilets for those who experience urinary incontinence.

Martyn Day – the party’s health spokesperson at Westminster – said there was a “silence around male incontinence”.

This comes despite it affecting a significant portion of society, with estimates suggesting that 10% of adult men in the UK suffer from it.

Although both men and women can be affected, male toilets rarely have appropriate facilities such as sanitary waste bins within the cubicle to dispose of items such as used incontinence pads or pants.

Research by Initial Washroom Hygiene revealed that this takes a toll, with 50% of men with the condition feeling afraid to leave their homes.

Incontinence is also a side effect of prostate cancer treatment and the charity Prostate Cancer UK’s “Boys need Bins” campaign is calling for people to write to their MP to raise awareness of male incontinence and calling for better facilities for men.

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The charity estimates that around 40% of the 400,000 men who have had prostate cancer would experience life-long urinary problems.

Day is calling on the UK Government to follow the Scottish Government’s move to begin introducing hygiene bins into some male and gender-neutral toilets in February 2019.

Commenting, he said: “Men traditionally do not talk about personal issues which affect them, and when the facilities just aren’t there either, this experience is compounded.

“Urinary incontinence isn’t just a women’s issue. Hundreds of thousands of men in the UK experience it, but their lives are being limited by the silence around male incontinence, and the fact that they often can’t access basic facilities.

“This is why I’m supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s Boys need Bins campaign and calling on the UK government to make the provision of sanitary waste disposal bins in all public washrooms mandatory to enable everyone who needs to dispose of pads and other incontinence products to do so easily, safely, and with dignity.”

Chiara De Biase, director of support and influencing at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Urinary incontinence is a common side effect of prostate cancer, but far too many men’s toilets don’t have any bins for men to safely dispose of their pads and other waste.

“We know this can have a significant impact on men’s mental and physical health, with some men even avoiding leaving the house. It shouldn’t be this way, which is why we’ve launched the Boys Need Bins campaign to ask every public toilet and business across the UK to provide these bins and support the millions of men across the UK who experience incontinence.

“It’s fantastic to see politicians like the SNP’s Martyn Day backing the campaign in Scotland, where the government began introducing bins in some male and unisex toilets in 2019. We want to see this rolled out even more widely, so that no man in Scotland is left facing the indignity of using toilets that don’t have the facilities they need.”

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