Women and Health
Nov 09, 2009
A report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) argues that, despite considerable progress in the past decades, societies continue to fail to meet the health care needs of women at key moments of their lives, particularly in their adolescent years and into older age.
Entitled Women and Health: Today’s Evidence, Tomorrow’s Agenda, the study calls for urgent action within the health sector and beyond to improve the health and lives of girls and women around the world.
The report highlights the disparity in care between women and men. Although women provide the bulk of health care, they rarely receive the care they need. While it is true that women generally live longer than men because of both biological and behavioural advantages, these are often overridden in certain settings, such as those involving gender-based discrimination. As a result, female life expectancy at birth is lower than or equal to that of males.
Since women tend to live longer than men, women represent a growing proportion of older people. The report recommends that societies prepare now to prevent and manage the chronic health problems often associated with old age. However, it also notes that many of the problems faced by adult women have their origins in childhood.
A key part of the study focuses on societal issues and how they have contributed to the failing of women in the health care system. For example, women face higher health costs than men due to their greater use of health care yet they are more likely than men to be poor, unemployed, working part-time or working in a sector with no health care benefits. One step to addressing this would be the removal of financial barriers to maternal health services. This would stimulate demand and lead to increased uptake of essential health services.
The report also highlights the need to strengthen health systems so that they are better geared toward meeting women’s needs in terms of access, comprehensiveness and responsiveness. Progress in increasing access to the services that could make a difference to women’s health (ie. prenatal care) have been “patchy and uneven.”
The authors of the report believe that fundamental change to this situation will come through public policy. Sustainable progress can only come from policy that has the potential to minimize exposure to risks, increase access to care and highlight the consequences of ill-health in women and girls. Broad, specific strategies such as poverty reduction, increased access to literacy, training and education, and increased opportunities for women to participate in economic activities will also contribute to making sustainable progress in women’s health.
It is true that many of the main causes of the health challenges faced by women are based largely on societies’ attitudes to women, which in turn are reflected in the structures and systems that set such policies. That makes it all the more important that, as the report concludes, action is needed now to better the health of women and girls around the globe. “Improve women’s health – improve the world.”
The report can be accessed here.
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