Women's Health

Nearer the Church, Farther From MDGs

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
When Philippines President Benigno Aquino III delivered his annual state of the union address in July, he appealed to the country’s lawmakers to break a  deadlock on progressive birth control laws in this predominantly Catholic nation.

Pregnant Nicaraguan Girls Forced to Become Mothers

By José Adán Silva
Carla lost everything when she got pregnant at the age of 13: her first year of secondary school, her family, her boyfriend, and her happiness. She spent a year panhandling on the streets of the Nicaraguan capital before she was taken in by a shelter for young mothers.
The Kakonko Health Centre in rural Tanzania is now equipped to perform surgeries, including caesarean sections. Credit: Erick Kabendera/IPS

Operating in Rural Tanzania “To Save a Life”

By Erick Kabendera
At the Kakonko Health Centre, about 250 kilometres from the nearest hospital in Kigoma Region, Western Tanzania, assistant medical officer Abdu Mapinduzi prepares to operate on Joanitha, a young pregnant mother.

Laos’s Rural Women Await Midwives

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
A year after the Laotian government launched a safe pregnancy programme news of this initiative,  involving the dispatch of teams of midwives across the country, is yet to reach women in the remote  communities.

Caribbean Sees Progress on HIV/AIDS, Fears Funding Cuts

By Peter Richards
Ian McKnight, executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), used one word - “tokenistic” - to sum up his perspective on the 19th International AIDS Conference that ended here over the weekend.

Punish Those Carrying Out FGM, Say Côte d’Ivoire Campaigners

By Fulgence Zamblé
Nine women in the northern Côte d'Ivoire town of Katiola have been convicted for carrying out female genital mutilation – the first time that a 1998 law banning FGM has been applied.

Child Rape on the Rise in Sri Lanka

By Feizal Samath
A spate of child rape cases in Sri Lanka has angered child rights activists and moved the government to consider tightening the relevant laws and making the offence punishable with the death sentence.

Officials Decry “Appalling Gaps” in Global Data on Women

By Carey L. Biron
The World Bank and U.S. government on Thursday each announced major new initiatives aimed at expanding knowledge on the experience of women around the world, while acknowledging that much remains to be done on filling the global “data gap” on women.

U.S.: Police Treat Condoms as Contraband, Rights Group Says

By Zoha Arshad
How many condoms is it legal to carry around in your pocket? That’s the question sex workers in the United States are asking after being routinely targeted by police for having prophylactics – not in itself a crime.

Family Planning Essential for Development

By Julio Godoy
Improving family planning to avoid unwanted pregnancies in developing countries, as well as assuring girls’ access to education, and women’s participation in the economy, are essential components of a sound development policy, according to Western experts and African activists.

Death Stalks Pregnant Women in East Myanmar

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
From a wooden, weather-beaten building on the edge of this border town, Mahn Mahn charts dangerous missions deep Myanmar (also Burma) for the 2,000-odd health workers under his wing.
Like these newly born twins, more children are born daily into families who can barely afford to raise a child. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

Women’s Inequality Linked to Soaring Population

By Zoha Arshad
The world’s population now stands at about seven billion, and by 2050, this figure will hit a whopping nine billion.

Birth Control – Roping in Pakistan’s Men

By Zofeen Ebrahim
“No scalpel, no stitch and no rest needed,” guarantees Dr. Ghulam Shabbir Sudhayao, referring to the surgical procedure called vasectomy - the least popular method of birth control around the world, including Pakistan.

Family Planning Summit Offers New Hope

By A. D. McKenzie
The Summit on Family Planning that is taking place in London on Wednesday is a bid to get governments around the world to commit more resources to safeguarding women’s reproductive rights, according to the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

South Sudan’s Women Await Independence From Poverty

By Charlton Doki
One year after the formation of South Sudan, the country’s women say that independence has not resulted in the positive political, economic and social changes that they had hoped for.

Growing ‘Entertainment’ Industry Traps Nepali Girls

By Naresh Newar
Almost unnoticed, Nepal’s burgeoning adult entertainment industry has been drawing young girls away from being trafficked across the border to the fleshpots of India’s big cities.

South Africa’s National Health Insurance Sites Underfunded

By Laura Lopez Gonzalez
Experts say that underfunded pilot universal healthcare sites to be set up by South Africa as part of its proposed national health insurance may be doomed to fail as debate rages about how the move to more equitable healthcare will be funded.

Liberia’s Baby Blues – No Policy for Pregnant School Girls

By Winston Daryoue
Patricia Kollie should be at school today but instead she is at home in Gbarnga, Liberia, pounding a pile of cassava leaves in a wooden mortar. Her entire body is slightly swollen. Her dress fits a little too snug at the stomach.

Water and Slums Bright Spots in MDGs

By Carlota Cortes
An annual report card on the ambitious U.N.-led initiative known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) says that in three areas - poverty, slums and water – the goals have been met ahead of the 2015 deadline, but persistent gaps remain, notably in the critical area of maternal health.

Community Volunteers Convince Ugandan Families to Have Fewer Children

By Mantoe Phakathi
It is midmorning at the Kanungu Health Centre IV and the queue of patients grows as more people start to arrive for treatment at this rural facility more than 400 kilometres outside the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

Some Nurses Take Flight, Others Take to the Streets

By K. S. Harikrishnan
Nurses in India are up in arms against the deterioration of the nursing profession in the country, including unfair wages and the policies of private hospital managements.
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