Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar will participate in the Lucknow leg of a nationwide Run4Niine marathon aimed at tackling menstrual taboos, it was announced on Thursday. The marathon will be held in 500 cities across India on March 8 to mark International Women's Day.

Run4Niine is expanding its nationwide '#18to82' campaign, initiated by the Niine Movement, to bridge the gap between the 18 percent of menstruating females in India who use sanitary napkins, and the 82 percent predominantly engaging in unhygienic and unsafe alternatives such as old cloths, rags, hay and even ash, read a statement.