Women's_Health_Empowerment-1

by

Kiran Soni Gupta

About the Author:
Kiran Soni Gupta is a civil servant with the Indian Administrative Service. She has worked extensively in the areas of women's studies, health, education, disasters, and environment. At present she is the Secretary, Administrative Reforms Commission with the Government of Rajasthan in Jaipur.

Women and children constitute roughly 2/3^rd of India's total population. The development of women has always been the central focus of the developmental planning since independence. The shifts in policy approaches in the last 50 years from the concept of welfare in the 70's to development in the 80's and now to empowerment in the 90's are fully reckoned with. There has also been a significant conceptual shift in recent years from a target oriented approach to population and health issues - towards a more need based comprehensive approach to women's health. The health concerns of girls in fact originate much before her birth. The challenge is to ensure that women's health is a public health priority throughout her life from birth till old age.

Good health and well being continue to elude most women. Throughout their life cycle, women in many countries have unequal access to basic health resources and lack adequate counseling. The result is an increased risk of unwanted and early pregnancies, HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as unsafe abortions and complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. The demand for better health care and improved quality of life for all females - both as participants in the health care system and as beneficiaries, are being voiced by communities, health personnel, researchers and policy makers. The greatest challenge is to recognise the obstacles that stand in the way of right to good health.The analysis of the socio-economic data demonstrates women in India continue to be relatively disadvantaged in matters of nutrition, survival, health, literacy and productivity. Empowerment of women, which is largely an inter-play of social and economic roles within a society, defines the processes, which are: -

Changes in women's mobility and social interaction.

Changes in women's labour patterns.

Changes in women's access to and control over resources.

Changes in women's control over decision-making.

Changes in women's access to jobs and wages.

These processes further lead to change in general roles.

The status of women's health is largely reflected by the indicators like female mortality and morbidity, disease burden, reproductive health and reproductive behaviour, contraception, abortion, maternal mortality and morbidity, gynecological morbidity and infertility; nutrition; work environment and health covering aspects like poor sanitation, air pollution, poor quality of housing, degradation of natural resources, sexual harassment and health problems related to nature of women's productive work; and violence against women and its consequences for the health care system of women. The health profile clearly demonstrates that the situation is far from satisfactory. Malnutrition, often caused by the gender discrimination in food distribution, presents a serious threat to health of girls and women. Discriminating child care leads to malnutrition and impaired physical development of the girls. Under nutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies result due to discrimination in food entitlement. Women's risk of premature death and disability, is higher during their reproductive years. MMR and IMR coupled with educational backwardness of women, results in low social and economic status limiting women’s access to education, good nutrition, family planning services and health care. The main factors determining women's health, are :-

Poverty and Economic Inequalities

Women's Position in Family and Society

Son Preference and its Consequences

Restrictions on Physical Mobility

Dowry: Marriage

Divorce

Inheritance

Literacy, School Enrollment and Drop-Out rate

Drop-out rate is also the result of the following factors:

Low parental interest and support for further schooling, especially for girls.

Lower educational aspirations amongst girls, as compared to boys.

Indifferent dangers, which discourage student's desire to learn.

Weak public commitments to the promotion of education.

Work and Participation Rates

Dual Burden

Poor Representation of Women in High Administrative and Political Positions

Access to Health Services

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