From 2026, Czech schools must provide menstrual products for female pupils. Health Minister Vlastimil Válek has now signed the relevant regulation – it is intended to improve hygiene standards and reduce barriers to education.
The Czech Ministry of Health (MZČR) has introduced an important change: from 1 January 2026, all schools are obliged to supply girls from the age of nine with menstrual products. Health Minister Vlastimil Válek today signed the corresponding amendment to the hygiene regulations for educational and childcare institutions.
With the new regulation, the government is responding to demands from pupil representatives, parent organisations and non-profit initiatives. The aim, according to Minister Válek in a press release from the Ministry of Health, is “not only to raise hygiene standards at schools, but also to remove barriers to access to education.” No female pupil should be forced to leave lessons because of her period or resort to improvised aids such as toilet paper.
Specifically, the regulation stipulates that all school toilets used by girls from the age of nine – including those shared with boys – must be equipped with individually packaged hygiene products.
The legislative change was widely discussed in advance. Involved were not only public health experts but also paediatricians, head teachers, parent associations and NGOs committed to equality in education, including “Sola pomáhá” and “AcceCycle”.
“Menstrual products in schools are not a matter of convenience, but of health,” emphasised Irena Hůlová from Sola pomáhá. Through the ministry’s decisive action, the Czech Republic could now become a model for other European countries.
The European Parliament, in a resolution adopted in January 2019, pointed out that “period poverty” remains an unresolved issue within the EU. According to estimates, one in ten girls cannot afford the necessary sanitary products.
Already today, many schools provide hygiene products on a voluntary basis. With the new regulation, this practice will now be standardised and legally secured.
