Participants at a medical congress in India have set a new Guinness World Record for the longest line of sanitary pads, in a move aimed at promoting menstrual hygiene.

Five hundred people at the 62nd All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (AICOG) took seven and a half hours to lay out 10,105 sanitary pads in a line 1,078 metres (3,537 feet) long.

The feat in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, verified by Guinness World Record officials, also included the shape of a uterus under the slogan "Nothing's more cuterus than your uterus".

"Sanitary pads are required for every woman for her hygiene. Hygiene is so important otherwise they will have lot of pelvic infections, urinary infections and all those problems are there," gynaecologist Geeta Pramod Shanbhag told AFP.

According to a National Family Health Survey (NFHS) report published in 2017, only 58 per cent of women in India aged 15 to 24 use a hygienic method of menstrual protection, the Hindu daily reported.

In July 2018, India withdrew a controversial tax on sanitary pads following a vocal campaign led by activists and Bollywood stars to boost female education and empowerment.

One study by WaterAid and Unicef found that more than a third of girls in South Asia missed school during their periods.