Gender disparities and maternal health Underlying mean of the health problems in our country, are poverty and poor education. Differences in socioeconomic status are seen for most conditions, diseases and sick factors in this country. The social distribution of health and social causes, which most effect health, must be understood and addressed. Total public and private health expenditure in Pakistan represents 2-3 %of the gross domestic product. (GDP). In 1990, less then 1% of GDP was allocated to public health care with private expenditure accounting for the rest. This is well below international standards because of the low levels of expending; it becomes critical to evaluate the impact of government policies of people’s health. In addition to direct provision of various governments influence health delivery in indirect ways through their policies towards medical education and regulations. Maternal health has been seen as an issue of immediate concern for the developing countries. Socio-cultural factors in many developing countries particularly; those in Asia are leading to increased maternal mortality due to poor health. This fact can be seen from the social and cultural trends in these countries because of these factors various disabilities, inadequacies and even deaths are increasing. Differential in socio-economic status are seen for most conditions diseases and risk factors in this country. The social distribution of health and the social causes, which most affect health, must be understood and addressed. In Pakistan, there are estimated 300 to 640 maternal deaths per 100,000 and annually 30,000 mothers die in every 20 minutes. Many more suffer to other disabilities and diseases. Unfortunately, the overall picture a... ... middle of paper ... ... expectations for women then men. The practice of gender seclusion makes it difficult for women to access services outside their homes and it is difficult for female health workers to travel alone or in company of men in certain areas of country. Change in concepts and attitudes is required and that can only come through education of entire society, both men and women. Overall, the government of Pakistan has failed to address the health needs of the vast majority of the population especially in rural areas due to inadequate health policies and programs. However, women are the worst suffer of poor and limited health facilities in Pakistan and face high risk due to social and cultural factors that their mobility and their access to basic and reproductive health care which is mostly available at distant locations and inattention to their needs during pregnancy.
In every culture health play an essential part of life but means to achieve that healthy being may vary from one country to another depending on their belief system. It is important that professional healthcare providers obtain a proficiency in different cultures and respect these customs as they may influence patient’s behaviors towards receiving care. Birthing is a very important stage in the life of a Vietnamese woman . the Vietnamese culture is very diverse as many of their cultural practices have been influenced by the country’s’ strategic located between china and India. The Vietnamese people religiously observe their traditions and beliefs especially in pregnancy and during and after delivery.
Population Council. “World Conference on Women: The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action on Women and Health”. Population and Development Review , Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec., 1995), pp. 907-91. Web. 22 Nov. 2013
Two-thirds of infants die during the first month of life due to low birth weight (Lia-Hoagberg et al, 1990). One reason for this outcome is primarily due to difficulties in accessing prenatal care. Prenatal health care encompasses the health of women in both pre and post childbearing years and provides the support for a healthy lifestyle for the mother and fetus and/or infant. This form of care plays an important role in the prevention of poor birth outcomes, such as prematurity, low birth weight and infant mortality, where education, risk assessment, treatment of complications, and monitoring of fetus development are vital (McKenzie, Pinger,& Kotecki, 2012). Although every woman is recommended to receive prenatal health care, low-income and disadvantaged minority women do not seek care due to structural and individual barriers.
... growing burden this disease on obstetric outcomes, we also know that there is a huge population at risk in our country. It is therefore important to evaluate PCOS pregnancies in Pakistan. This research aims to identify the local burden of complications of pregnancy among PCOS women. It will not only highlight the magnitude of problem but will help formulate better preventive and interventional strategies for future.
The Social Determinants of Health are certain circumstances that have an effect on the health and overall well being of humans and their own commonalities in terms of financial and societal situations. The reason why it is essential for us to pass beyond considering women’s health and access to health care as individual or biological problems is because women bear unique health needs yet so much health systems are not even acknowledging them. There are situations only females experience that have bad health affects, such as childbirth and pregnancy, although they aren't diseases, physiological and social tactics carry many health jeopardies depend upon health care. Gender based inequalities
National health systems are assessed by the extent to which expenditure and actions in public health and medical care contributes to the crucial social goals of improving health, increasing access to quality healthcare, reducing health disparities, protecting citizens from penury due to medical e...
Social determinants of health has been a large topic for many years and can have a positive and negative effect on individuals, families and communities. (World Health Organisation, 2009) The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels, which are themselves influenced by policy choices. Social determinants have many factors and in this essay education will be the main social determinant of health discussed and how this could have an impact on the physical and mental sides of health.
Over the years, the social determinants of health (SDOH) have been receiving more attention due to its importance in determining peoples’ health access, health quality and health outcome. The social determinants of health have been described by various scholars as the situation or environmental condition in which people are born, or where they grow, live and work; unfortunately these conditions have continued to affect and determine people’s ability to access proper care.1-5 In other words, the SDOH continues to consciously and unconsciously influence people’s access to most opportunities in life including access to healthcare services both in developed and developing countries.2 This issues have continue to deteriorate in most developing countries increasing people’s susceptibility to multi-morbidity among different age groups, with a slight increase among the elderly.6
One article talks about how free health insurance was granted to people in Indonesia. As a result, there was a positive effect on how many people finally received the care they needed. The article states, “The Social Safety Net-Health Sector (JPS-BK) programme was introduced in 1998 as part of state efforts to address the social impacts of the economic crisis that began in 1997. JPS-BK had two main elements: the allocation of health cards to poor households entitling them to free care at public health facilities; and additional financial support to these facilities to compensate them for likely increased utilisation of their services resulting from the use of the health cards. Studies of the scheme’s impact suggest that it had a modest positive impact on poor people’s utilisation of health services,” (Rosser 258).
In the operation of the healthcare system, gender plays a central role. Gender discrimination in the healthcare exists either in the field of education, workplace or while attending to the patients. Interestingly, as opposed to other areas where discrimination lies heavily to a particular gender; gender inequality in health happens to both women and men. Gender inequality in the health care service negatively affects the quality of care given and perpetuates patient biases to a gender. Also, the gender disparities in the field of health assists researchers and practitioners to study conditions and their probable manifestations within both sexes.
The most important indicators of a community’s overall health are maternal, infant and child health. It deals with the health of women of childbearing age from pre-pregnancy, labor, delivery and the postpartum period and the health of the child prior to birth up the adolescence (McKenzie & Pinger, 2015, p.192). The health data that is collected towards maternal, infant and child health are used to see the effectiveness of disease prevention and health promotion services in a community. Prenatal health care is one of the fundamentals of a safe pregnancy. An infant’s health mostly depends on the mother. A child’s during the ages of one to nine are very important to the child’s development and the future (McKenzie & Pinger, 2015, p.217). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccinating children against most vaccine-preventable diseases early in life. One of the community programs for Women, Infants and Children are maternal and child health bureau, which is in charge with the responsibility for promoting and improving the health of our nations mothers and children. Another is woman, infants and children program, which is a clinic-based program designed to provide a variety of nutritional health related goods and services to pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants up to
‘Pakistan is one of the developing countries and there are various un-researched and ignored problems that are hindering its way to stand out as a stable country. One of those is the violation of human rights. Women rights in Pakistan are freely being violated and there are almost negligible systems working to provide equal rights to women in Pakistan. There is one inconsiderate aspect to women rights and that is the prevalence of child marriages. Government of Pakistan is extremely indulged in its political concerns that it is side-tracking its social problems which are gradually deepening its roots in this society where injustice is not only the story of present but also following as a dark shadow into its future. Since the Pakistan’s government is unable to register all the births in the country, it has become difficult to get an exact numbers of child marriages and, therefore, the prevalence of child marriages cannot be determined accurately, but according to the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey 2012-2013, the fertility rate among girls between 15-19 years is 44 per 1000 women. Therefore, there is a need to realize the reasons and consequences of child marriages so that we can make rational decisions for future and protect the children from these atrocities that are ruining their childhood while injecting them with the responsibilities as of adults. Child marriage should be discouraged as it is a direct opposition to the laws of human rights and it is also one form of the child abuse that affects child’s development like education and other skills and also affects his domestic life severely that can lead to separation, divorce, and emotional disturbance in future. However, the concept of child marriage is eminently prevalen...
... about Pakistan, where I live there very less hospitals at the moment which provide proper care to patients and if the hospital beds would be full of such patients then other people whose diseases can be cured would not be treated properly.
An important area for the development of a country is definitely the health sector, but in countries like Nepal where the Human Development Index(WHO, 2012) is only 0.463, a lot of people do not even receive any health provisions. The ethnic groups such as Dalit and Janajati in Nepal, are much affected by the unequal access and use of state- provided public health resources, facilities and services. In many cases, even among all these, it is the women and children (especially girls) who suffer the most as they are discriminated based on gender, caste and ethnicity. That being said, through this research I will be focusing on the health issues among the women in Nepal and how various factors such as the gender inequality, caste system, and traditional beliefs contribute to affect their health.
On January 14, 2014 Aljazeera America reported another case of female infanticide in Karachi (Haryana Colony), “Just 2 days after a mother gave birth her husband killed the child, their first, because she was a girl.”