Women's health issues have attained higher international visibility and renewed political commitment in recent decades. While targeted policies and programs have enabled women to lead healthier lives, significant gender-based health disparities still remain in many countries. The most widely recognized reproductive health disparities are maternal and infant mortality. Maternal mortality refers to deaths due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth while the infant mortality refers to deaths of young children, typically those less than one year of age. The rate of infant mortality is often used as an indicator to measure the health and well-being of a nation, because factors affecting the health of entire populations can also impact the mortality rate
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This is because health is not only limited to genetic influences but also includes personal behaviors, environmental factors, such as stress and living conditions, and socioeconomic factors such as race and poverty. Elimination of women’s health disparities would require strategic development and continuous action to yield …show more content…
Personally, I believe many should realize that focusing on women’s health does not mean ignoring men’s health, nor does it mean taking resources away from men’s health. This is about acknowledging the fact that women and men are different. While that may seem obvious, past medical research often worked on the assumption that, with the exceptions of breast cancer, obstetrics and gynecology, women are just like men. It was not unusual for medical studies and drug trials to exclude women, even though women were affected by the condition being studied or would be prescribed the drugs that were being tested. To improve the health of all childbearing-aged women and their newborns, women should be educated and advised on preconception screening for preexisting conditions and risks, counseling about contraception and access to effective family planning to prevent unintended pregnancy, and encouragement of good nutrition and other health habits. It is also important that pregnant women receive early, continuous and high-quality care through pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum. The current health disparities that burden women can all be improved with the right plans and
This is because health is not only limited to genetic influences but also includes personal behaviors, environmental factors, such as stress and living conditions, and socioeconomic factors such as race and poverty. Elimination of women’s health disparities would require strategic development and continuous action to yield …show more content…
Personally, I believe many should realize that focusing on women’s health does not mean ignoring men’s health, nor does it mean taking resources away from men’s health. This is about acknowledging the fact that women and men are different. While that may seem obvious, past medical research often worked on the assumption that, with the exceptions of breast cancer, obstetrics and gynecology, women are just like men. It was not unusual for medical studies and drug trials to exclude women, even though women were affected by the condition being studied or would be prescribed the drugs that were being tested. To improve the health of all childbearing-aged women and their newborns, women should be educated and advised on preconception screening for preexisting conditions and risks, counseling about contraception and access to effective family planning to prevent unintended pregnancy, and encouragement of good nutrition and other health habits. It is also important that pregnant women receive early, continuous and high-quality care through pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum. The current health disparities that burden women can all be improved with the right plans and