WHO calls for action on female healthcare
WHO calls for action on health of women and girls around world
Monday, 09, Nov 2009 08:37
By Sarah Garrod.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called for action to improve the healthcare of girls and women.
A report by the WHO out today warns that despite progress societies continue to fail women at key times in their lives.
The report, Women and health: today's evidence tomorrow's agenda, was launched today by WHO director-general, Dr Margaret Chan: "If women are denied a chance to develop their full human potential, including their potential to lead healthier and at least somewhat happier lives, is society as a whole really healthy? What does this say about the state of social progress in the 21st century?
"It's time to pay girls and women back, to make sure that they get the care and support they need to enjoy a fundamental human right at every moment of their lives, that is their right to health."
The report found that worldwide, women provide the bulk of healthcare - whether in the home, the community or the health system, yet health care continues to fail to address the specific needs and challenges of women throughout their lives.
It also found up to 80 per cent of all healthcare and 90 per cent of care for HIV/Aids-related illness is provided in the home - almost always by women, "yet more often than not, they go unsupported, unrecognized and unremunerated in this essential role".
When it comes to meeting women's healthcare needs, some services, such as care during pregnancy, are more likely to be in place than others such as mental health, sexual violence and screening and treatment for cervical cancer, the report found.
Researchers also said that globally, heart attacks and stroke, often thought to be "male" problems, are the two leading killers of women. Women often show different symptoms from men, which contributes to under diagnosis of heart disease in women. They also tend to develop heart disease later in life than men.
"We will not see significant progress as long as women are regarded as second-class citizens in so many parts of the world," Dr Chan said.
"In so many societies, men exercise political, social and economic control. The health sector has to be concerned. These unequal power relations translate into unequal access to health care and unequal control over health resources," she added.