Let’s focus on women’s global health — beyond just International Women’s Day
When you hear “global health issues”, what comes to mind? For many it would be the growing threat of Ebola, or Zika, cancer, global warming — the ones we hear about most often in the news. One topic that is greatly neglected in the media is women’s health issues, and negative health outcomes that often favour women. With the recent passing of International Women’s Day there has been a renowned focus on issues affecting women around the world. Just last month was also the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Even if some of the issues being discussed there were not outwardly health related, they do relate to social determinants that have many implications for women’s health. Being a man or woman has a great impact on health not just because of biological differences, but because of gender-related differences stemming from discrimination. Unequal access to care, power dynamics, and lack of education are large barriers to women’s quality of life and health status[1].
While the awareness IWD brings is vital to the fight to gender equality, it did not stop over 800 women dying from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth complications that day[2]. Or from two million girls under the age of 15 becoming pregnant every year[2]. Or the fact that women and girls face an increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS[3]. Or from one in three women experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by a partner or non-partner in their lifetime[4]. In India, 1 in 5 girls drop out of school when they start menstruating[5]. In the UK, 137,700 girls miss school due to not being able to afford sanitary napkins every year[6]. Despite being illegal in Uganda, there were over 200 cases of female genital mutilation in December 2018 and January 2019[7].
Even the recently released WHO “Ten threats to global health in 2019” impact women more due to less empowerment to seek care, less access to care, and other social determinants. This includes women being more vulnerable in fragile environments from global warming, war, and natural disasters, and more susceptible to negative effects of communicable and non-communicable diseases[3].
Despite the fact women’s health status is on a decline in some areas of the world, there are good things happening to combat gender health inequities. Organizations like Partners in Health Canada and Plan International Canada have recognized the critical need for women’s health initiatives and have established projects targeting women’s health services in developing countries. A Partners in Health Canada-supported program targeting gender-based violence in Haiti brings together health, legal and judicial structures and community leaders for a coordinated response, while also developing educational programs for women, adolescent girls, men and boys[8]. Partners In Health also provides access to family planning, medical care for pregnancy and childbirth, and antiretroviral treatment for pregnant women living with HIV. Through their work, nurses and community health workers provide patients with access to family planning and counselling around HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. They also provide maternal waiting homes at major hospitals to allow women from remote communities to have a safe and comfortable place to stay in the later stages of pregnancy so that they are able to receive care from skilled health professionals in the case of any complications[8].
Plan Canada’s Change the Birth Story Campaign works to negate the three barriers to care for women and girls and improve maternal, newborn, and child health and sexual and reproductive health rights in 8 countries[3]. In India, social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham has invented a low cost sanitary-pad making machine, raises awareness about the harmful stigmas around periods, and promotes sanitary practices around menstruation. His mini-machine makes pads for one-third of the price of commercial producers, empowers female employees, and is in use in 23 states in India[9]. Female genital mutilation practices are on the decline worldwide, and with continued efforts there are hopes the practice can be eradicated by 2030, through programs like that of Amref Health Africa which promotes alternate rites of passage in Kenya and Tanzania, such as baths of milk and honey[7].
Everyone has the right to health, but women and girls often face many more challenges in having this right realized. When women and girls do not have access to safe and reliable health care, their rights are violated. When girls are married far too young — putting them at further risk of pregnancy and childbirth complications — their rights are violated. When a woman does not have access to reproductive health services and education, her rights are violated. When a girl misses class or drops out of school due to a lack of access to sanitary products, her potential is not realized and her rights are violated. Millions of women’s and girl’s health rights are violated every day even in 2019. We, as a global collective have a responsibility to uphold the rights for these women and girls by getting further educated on women’s health issues (like by watching the documentary “Period: End of Sentence” on Netflix), advocating for equal health rights, and supporting innovations and initiatives trying to bridge this health gender gap. This year let’s not wait for the next International Women’s Day to act, let’s act right now, and bring these issues to the forefront.
References:
- World Health Organization. (2019). Health Topics: Women’s Health. https://www.who.int/topics/womens_health/en/
- Plan International Canada. (2019) Change the Birth Story. https://plancanada.ca/changethebirthstory
- World Health Organization. (2019). Ten threats to global health in 2019. https://www.who.int/emergencies/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019
- World Health Organization. (2017). Violence Against Women. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
- Rueckert, P. (2018). Why periods are keeping girls out of school — and how you can help. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/menstrual-hygiene-day-education/
- Elsworthy, E. (2018). International Women’s Day: More than 137,700 girls in UK missed school last year because they can’t afford sanitary products. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/international-womens-day-period-girls-missed-school-uk-sanitary-products-menstruation-a8244396.html
- Cole, D. (2019). The 2019 Report Card For The Fight To End Female Genital Mutilation. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/02/06/691950128/the-2019-report-card-for-the-fight-to-end-female-genital-mutilation
- Partners in Health Canada. (2019). Maternal Health. https://pihcanada.org/our-work/maternal-health/
- Venema, V. (2019). The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26260978
