International Women's Day

by Martha C. Carlough, MD, MPH 

    
     March 8th was the 101st time International Women’s day has been celebrated (first marked in 1910 in Germany by a political leader of the Social Demographic party). What began as a political movement has become an opportunity to annually mark progress (and lack of) towards better health and equity for girls and women around the globe.
    But as we all know, there is still a lot that needs to be done. In the words of Dr. Mahmoud Fathalla, Founder of the WHO Safer Motherhood Initiative: “Women are not dying because of diseases and problems we cannot treat, they are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving.”

Ten key facts (according to WHO, UN, UNESCO, UNAIDS  and UNICEF):

1.    There are currently 17 countries with women as head of government, head of state, or both, which, according to the UN, has more than doubled since 2005 but there are still six countries where women are not allowed to vote (Bhutan, Lebanon, Brunei, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Vatican City) and women hold only 17% of parliamentary seats worldwide.

2.    Approximately 358,000 women die annually of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, which represents a decline of almost one-third in the last 15 years, but is still far less than the 5% decline annually that would be needed to reach MDG5 (the reduction of maternal deaths by 75% by 2015).  Though not preventable, most of these deaths are avoidable, as the necessary medical interventions exist. The key obstacle is pregnant women's lack of access to quality care before, during, and after childbirth.

3.    On average, women live six to eight years longer than men, but there continue to be vast geographic discrepancies with life expectancy of more than 80 years for women in 35 countries, and less than fifty years still in others (largely Sub-Saharan Africa)

4.    Globally, cardiovascular disease, which is widely considered a male problem, is the leading cause of death for women overall (and responsible for 40% of deaths to women over 60 years of age). For women of reproductive age, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death.

5.    In 2010, UNAIDS estimated that of the 34 million people living with HIV/AIDS, half are women. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where 75% of people living with HIV/AIDS are, there are an estimated 12 million women with HIV/AIDS (compared to 8.2 million men)

6.    About 16 million girls aged between 15 and 19 give birth each year, accounting for more than 10% of all births. In most countries, the risk of maternal death is twice as high for an adolescent mother as for other pregnant women.

7.    Of the world’s 774 million illiterate adults, 64% are women. There are more girls in school today than ever before, but of the 72 million children worldwide who are not in school, 67% are girls.

8.    Women work two-thirds of the world‘s working hours, produce half of the world‘s food, yet earn only 10% of the world‘s income and own less than 1% of the world‘s property. Although data varies between countries, around the world women earn on average 20% less than men.

9.    An estimated one million girls enter the sex trade each year, and four million women and girls are trafficked.

10.  Globally, approximately one-third of women or girls are beaten or sexually abused in their lifetime.