Womens empowerment is a public health imperative: WHO

The WHO today pledged to work with member countries to promote the health of women and girls and eliminate gender-based inequities which impede women's access to essential health services.
Stating that women empowerment was a public health imperative, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, Poonam Khetrapal Singh said region-wide practice of early marriage and pregnancy was a direct threat to the health of young women and their children, especially in rural areas.
"Around six million girls aged 15-19 years give birth in our region every year, while in four of the regions countries the adolescent birth rate is more than 50 per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years.

"This poses immense dangers to the health of young women dangers that can be avoided via rapid social empowerment (including access to contraception) and the implementation of laws against early marriage," she said on the eve of International Women's Day.
Singh said women in the WHO South-East Asia region and beyond, face discrimination in education and in access to nutrition and in the workplace, where women can be subjected to unwanted advances or have their work undervalued or unpaid.
She stressed that gender-based inequities impede womens access to essential health services, causing a range of adverse outcomes.
As far as childbirth was concerned, many deliveries still took place in the home, often in the presence of a birth attendant who was unskilled. This occurred partly as a result of inadequate access to health-related knowledge and a lack of decision-making power, and partly due to ongoing service gaps.