Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Menstrual hygiene management among women and adolescent girls in the aftermath of the  
earthquake in Nepal  
 
Version: 0 Date: 17 Sep 2017  
 
Reviewer: Jonathan Stadler  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Dear authors,  
 
 
This paper describes the challenges of menstrual hygiene in  an unusual public health emergency 
- that of an earthquake. Overall this is well written, and competently presented. I have only one 
over-riding comment, which is however, I feel the major downside to the research and the 
manuscript. This has to do with r elevance. I wonder if it would be possible to explain why it was 
felt that feminine hygiene was the most pressing issue that required further exploration, 
particularly in the time of a natural disaster ... although obviously this would apply equally to 
other types of humanitarian crisis. This points to the relevance of the research given the massive 
impact that an earthquake has on peoples' everyday lives - homelessness, access to water and 
sanitation, food and power etc. While I appreciate that female hygi ene and dealing with 
menstruation is a part of it, I wonder whether this could not be regarded as part of a broader 
problem that people confront. I am not an expert on the management of disaster zones, but 
presumably a well worded report on this particular  disaster could contain sanitation products as 
part of a longer list of immediate needs.  
 
Thank you  
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequat ely supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
Not relevant to this manuscript  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript : 
 
Acceptable  
 
 
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the c ontent of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understand that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted for publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal