More municipalities and commercial facilities across Japan are placing sanitary bins in the stalls in men’s restrooms to help men with prostate and bladder cancer dispose of used incontinence pads.
People with these types of cancers have welcomed the news. Statistics from the National Cancer Center Japan show that 92,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, and more than 17,000 men were diagnosed with bladder cancer.
The initiative was started last June by Takako Otani, 60, a trustee of the Japan Marrow Donor Program in the city of Kazo, Saitama Prefecture, who heard from a man that he was having trouble finding a place to dispose of the pads.