 This study found that 12.5% of college students in Lucknow, India experienced difficulty obtaining sanitary napkins during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors such as being Muslim, having less educated fathers, having farmer fathers, lower income, rural residents and a history of using cloth as absorbent materials were associated with challenges in accessing sanitary napkins. These results suggest that providing access to sanitary napkins should be prioritised for college students during a future pandemic or crisis. This article was authored by Surbhi Jigar, Rukhya Alve, Suman Gupta and others.