Campaigners welcome announcement cutting levies on menstrual health items, but say their work to end period poverty is ‘far from over’

Pakistan plans to abolish “period tax”, in a victory for young campaigners who had taken the government to court over the charges.

Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that sanitary towels and related items were “daily necessities that are indispensable for women’s health, dignity and full participation in social activities”, and said he intended to remove the sales tax.