It’s responsibility of our society & government to take the women health issues seriously
By Dr. Vandana Singh
As you must be aware WHO has declared theme for this year 2021,which is ” Building a fairer healthier world”. On foundation day of WHO i.e 7th April , as medical professional it’s our duty to discuss health issues related to women.Health is an important factor not only for human well-being but also for economic growth of a country, what’s more important is women’s health in a country as they form about a half population of a country.
In India women are Central to the Grand vision of new India which is not only focusing on women development but on women led development witnessed on many fronts.
But the cause of major concern for health sector is women’s health in India due to gender bias.
Findings from the world economic forum indicates that India is one of the worst countries in terms of gender inequality the human development report ranks India 132 out of 187 in terms of gender inequality.
Even in 21st century India women are generally vulnerable to poor nutrition in all phases of life impacting their own growth and development and are more likely to have baby with low birth weight.
Gender based discrimination along with other social pathology is like the dowry system, early marriage often result in ill treatment and abuse of women , which eventually leaves a negative impact on her overall health.
Studies have indicated that boys are more likely to receive treatment from Health Care facilities compared to girls. As per National family health survey 72% boys are treated for acute respiratory infections again 66% girls. Boys with diarrhoea are 7% more likely to be taken to health facility than girls. Amongst last born children, boys are 11% more likely to be breast fed and the proportion of fully immunized boys is 4% higher.Gender discrimination begins just after birth.Females are most commonly aborted sex in India. If a female foetus is not aborted the Mother’s pregnancy can be a stressful experience due to her family’s for a son.
Once born daughters are prone to being fed less than sons specially when there are multiple girls already in household.
As women mature into adulthood many of the barriers preventing them from achieving equitable levels of health. Low status of women and girls in Indian society particularly in rural and poverty affected areas are attributed to hierarchy, patriarchy and multigenerational family.
All these contribute to specific Indian gender roles where men use greater privileges and superior rights to create an unequal society that leaves women with little to no power.Globally about 800 women die every day of preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and 20% of these women are from India
India’s anaemia burden among women is widespread with 53.1 % of non pregnant women and 50.3 80% of pregnant woman being anaemic as per the NF H S- 4 in 2016.Quality Healthcare is most crucial necessary for every individual but as per a research conducted by All India Institute of Medical and Harvard University only 37% of women receive healthcare in India with improved intervention
Only 18% girls and women use sanitary napkins during menstruation.
The absence of availability and knowledge of its use being the primary reason for the same
The status of pregnant women getting both antenatal and postnatal care is as less as 21% women receiving full care while visiting to a doctor during antenatal period and at term, taking Iron and Folic acid tablets for at least 100 days of pregnancy. Providing easy access to safe abortion services is still a challenge, where it accounts for 14% of all maternal death globally. Awareness regarding contraception and catering to the unmet needs of family planning also needs attention to improve the quality of health.
The situation of non-reproductive Healthcare, for the female sex is also is if not more than equally worse. The sex ratio of the country is low special in states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and also the neonatal mortality rate for girls is grave.
Reason for this is the lack of care and nutrition provided to girl child. In a society where girls are considered to be a burden, need for adequate nutrition and health care becomes an added expense for the family. A woman is required to feed on the left over’s after the rest of the family primarily men have eaten. This food is usually devoid of nutrition as basic importance and components as iron calcium and Iodine.
This might not have acute affect among girls but can be a life threatening for a pregnant woman. Menstruating girls can suffer from irregular periods and tiredness affecting their day to day life. It’s an important factor as if a human is ill and he or she cannot work to the best of their abilities, neither at home not outside of it. It is same for man and also for women.
Women in India died due to illness like anaemia and common infections like UTI, Tuberculosis which is easily treatable. If provided with prompt medical aid as many as half of deaths can be prevented but the same is far from reality. Although illegal, Indian cultural norms of forceful payment of a Dowry to the husband’s family is considered higher future financial burden for the family due to daughter that creates a power structure where all the lies in hands of male members of family. In addition women are often perceived as being in capable of taking care of parents in old age which creates even greater preference for sons over daughters.
The mental conditioning by society has led to women having a very high threshold of patience and silence. The health is not a Priority in our country, there 75% of India’s Healthcare infrastructure is based in urban areas and only 1.3 % of its Gross Domestic Product GDP is for Healthcare which is significantly lower than the Global version of 6%.
Along with improving health care services making them accessible to every woman, education can be the most important intervention to make women aware of their rights and also prevent them from being easy prey for severe emotional and mental disturbances.Providing employment opportunities for women will also create a positive impact on women’s health concerns.
Female Healthcare providers like ANM, Asha staff nurses along with lady doctors can play a the important role in educating society to recognise their health and nutrition needs as well and empowering women at all levels what help them to serve as productive members of society and develop healthy generations.
Despite taking necessary action to improve health indicators and providing healthcare for all the government must also focus on the implementation and execution at all levels achieving sustainable health through investment and priority driven approach in the strengthening and expanding health care services and creating awareness on women’s rights.
Globally women as part of Global Health workforce are contributing to deliver strategic traffic technical and operational support to to prepare and respond covid-19 today.They are and they have been contributing excellently in different fields to make India proud.
Now it’s the responsibility of our society and government to take the women health issues seriously and make better health care policies for women in India so that goal of health for all can be achieved. By doing this we can build a fairer and healthier India and subsequently a fairer and healthier world. (Symbolic photos : Courtesy-Social Media)
(Writer is a medical practitioner in Lucknow.)
