Women’s health: recommendations

As women get more education, autonomy, and opportunities for employment, their situation in Bangladesh is slowly improving. But far too many women are still socially and economically dependent on their husbands and families and are not equipped to make the best choices for themselves and for their children.
Improving women's health and social status needs concerted, collaborative efforts from the government, from community and religious leaders, from health care providers, and from women themselves.
Some of the most important interventions are listed below:
Increase women's education: Despite recent improvements, too few women graduate from secondary school or university. Thus, many women lack the skills, knowledge, and confidence to bring about change. Educated women are more likely to marry later; to have fewer children, to use health care services, and to fully vaccinate their children. When women are educated, everyone benefits.
Delay early marriage: Women in Bangladesh marry younger than women in most other countries in the world. Early marriage limits women's social and economic contributions. Community and religious leaders need to encourage parents to keep girls in school and actively and publicly discourage harassment of unmarried girls. No young woman should feel threatened because she wants to delay marriage.
Improve women's access to health and social information: Women need information to care for themselves and their children, to plan their families, and to be active participants in Bangladesh's democracy. Health promotion programs are needed to reach women nationwide and especially in rural areas and urban slums where women are most in need.
Increase access to family  planning: Family planning is essential for safeguarding women's health. Controlling population growth is essential for Bangladesh's future.
Family planning programs need more funding and greater attention from all government ministries and from non-governmental organizations.  The GOB needs to support more home visits to encourage non users to adopt effective methods, to improve counseling, and to promote and supply long-term and permanent methods.
Improve women's and girls' nutrition: Malnutrition is a hidden epidemic in Bangladesh. Protein and vitamin rich diets are particularly critical for women to protect them during pregnancy and childbirth and to prevent low birth weight babies. Health care providers need to counsel women about diet, and families need to ensure that pregnant women eat enough food and take iron supplements and vitamin A during and after pregnancy.
Improve maternal health Services: Women are entitled to the best possible care during pregnancy and delivery. In Bangladesh only 18 percent of women are assisted during childbirth by a medically trained provider compared to 39 percent in Pakistan, 47 percent in India, and 73 percent in Indonesia. Women, families, and communities need to plan for childbirth and to set money aside to pay for proper services and emergency transport if needed. Health care facilities must be equipped to provide at a minimum, basic emergency obstetric care (BEmOC).
Ensure equal health care for Women: Women are just as deserving of health care as men at every stage of their lives.   Except during the reproductive ages (15-49), male use of both inpatient and outpatient government health care facilities far exceeds female use. In the over 65 age group, men use public health services twice as frequently as women.
Advocate for equal status: Gender inequity must be addressed at all levels of society. Women cannot achieve equal status on their own. Men also must commit to providing girls and women equal opportunities to secure education, family planning, health care, and participation in family and community life. When women's lives are as valued as men's, all of society will benefit. n
Source: NIPORT booklet

 

Womens health: recommendations

As women get more education, autonomy, and opportunities for employment, their situation in Bangladesh is slowly improving. But far too many women are still socially and economically dependent on their husbands and families and are not equipped to make the best choices for themselves and for their children. Improving womens health and social status needs concerted, collaborative efforts from the government, from community and religious leaders, from health care providers, and from women themselves. Some of the most important interventions are listed below: Increase womens education: Despite recent improvements, too few women graduate from secondary school or university. Thus, many women lack the skills, knowledge, and confidence to bring about change. Educated women are more likely to marry later; to have fewer children, to use health care services, and to fully vaccinate their children. When women are educated, everyone benefits. Delay early marriage: Women in Bangladesh marry younger than women in most other countries in the world. Early marriage limits womens social and economic contributions. Community and religious leaders need to encourage parents to keep girls in school and actively and publicly discourage harassment of unmarried girls. No young woman should feel threatened because she wants to delay marriage. Improve womens access to health and social information: Women need information to care for themselves and their children, to plan their families, and to be active participants in Bangladeshs democracy. Health promotion programs are needed to reach women nationwide and especially in rural areas and urban slums where women are most in need. Increase access to family planning: Family planning is essential for safeguarding womens health. Controlling population growth is essential for Bangladeshs future. Family planning programs need more funding and greater attention from all government ministries and from non-governmental organizations. The GOB needs to support more home visits to encourage non users to adopt effective methods, to improve counseling, and to promote and supply long-term and permanent methods. Improve womens and girls nutrition: Malnutrition is a hidden epidemic in Bangladesh. Protein and vitamin rich diets are particularly critical for women to protect them during pregnancy and childbirth and to prevent low birth weight babies. Health care providers need to counsel women about diet, and families need to ensure that pregnant women eat enough food and take iron supplements and vitamin A during and after pregnancy. Improve maternal health Services: Women are entitled to the best possible care during pregnancy and delivery. In Bangladesh only 18 percent of women are assisted during childbirth by a medically trained provider compared to 39 percent in Pakistan, 47 percent in India, and 73 percent in Indonesia. Women, families, and communities need to plan for childbirth and to set money aside to pay for proper services and emergency transport if needed. Health care facilities must be equipped to provide at a minimum, basic emergency obstetric care (BEmOC). Ensure equal health care for Women: Women are just as deserving of health care as men at every stage of their lives. Except during the reproductive ages (15-49), male use of both inpatient and outpatient government health care facilities far exceeds female use. In the over 65 age group, men use public health services twice as frequently as women. Advocate for equal status: Gender inequity must be addressed at all levels of society. Women cannot achieve equal status on their own. Men also must commit to providing girls and women equal opportunities to secure education, family planning, health care, and participation in family and community life. When womens lives are as valued as mens, all of society will benefit. n Source: NIPORT booklet