Thursday, October 7, 2010
State of the World's Children, UNICEF 2007
Despite the monumental gains in health practices and life spans around the world, women still die in the perinatal period (28th week of pregnancy - 28 days postpartum) at a horrifying rate. Many of these deaths are in developing countries where girls, some as young as 8 years old, are married to older men. Young girls' bodies are not developed enough to give birth naturally so many of them die during childbirth or shortly thereafter. In Niger, 1 in 7 females will die in childbirth. Quite often the infant dies also. Keys to reversing this horror story include education, of children and their parents, and fostering empowerment of women to decide their own destinies. When women are educated and empowered to speak for themselves, they begin to demand resources for their children and everyone wins - children, mothers, families and communities. Gender equality is critical to child survival everywhere. Men in patriarchal societies must be taught that women are valuable and that preserving women's health is paramount to the survival of the society. REFERENCE: UNICEF, 2007. State of the World's Children 2007. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8qXlhk2ig0&feature=player_embedded#!
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Dear Jeri
ReplyDeleteThe number of women died from birth is needless death that can be prevented.As you mentioned education is key to solve this problem. I watched the video about Fistula clinic in Ethiopia. i am very sad by the magnitude of the problem. in Ethiopia arranged marriages is the dominant culture. as you mentioned marrying at early age and get pregnant a young as 14- 15 years old, these girls can not sustain the pressure of delivery of the baby. Of course educating the public and law makers need to make a law about marriage age and to stop arranged marriage will reduce the problem.
Jeri,
ReplyDeleteThis is a health issue that I can't help but feel deeply saddened by. With all the resources we have here in America, I sometimes forget that there are others who are not so fortunate. It's hard to believe that these problems still exist in our world today. I find myself contemplating, is there anything I can personally do to make a difference. I agree with your thoughts, the power is in education. As future health educators we hold the key to bringing closure to this issue worldwide. Thank you so much for opening my mind to think about issues which exist outside our nation.
Martinetta Victorian