On Sunday, March 8, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. The United Nations called the day “a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities…”
International Women’s Day presents an opportunity to reflect on issues that impact women around the world, including health care. In an article for the Huffington Post, Dr. Flavia Bustreo of the World Health Organization (WHO) wrote of ten top issues for women’s health. In her article, Dr. Bustreo calls attention to a number of issues threatening the health of women; these include cancer, reproductive health, maternal health, violence, mental health and non-communicable diseases. Dr. Bustreo comments:
Too many women are still missing out on the opportunity to get educated, support themselves, and obtain the health services they need, when they need them. That’s why WHO is working so hard to strengthen health systems and ensure that countries have robust financing systems and sufficient numbers of well-trained, motivated health workers.”
At HVO, we seek to strengthen health systems through the training, education and professional development of local health workers, and many specialty areas of HVO programming include components of care that address the top issues in women’s global health. Our oncology projects work to train providers in the diagnosis and treatment of many cancers, including some of the most common cancers among women like cervical and breast cancer. Our internal medicine projects educate local providers about non-communicable disease, including the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease – which is the number one killer of women globally. HVO’s anesthesia and nurse anesthesia projects include training for anesthesia providers in obstetric anesthesia to provide safe surgery options during childbirth. Many of our nursing education projects include maternal health components, and our orthopaedics, physical therapy, and wound management projects address a continuum of care for women who are victims of violence and trauma.
Health workers are essential to meeting health care needs of women around the world. HVO will continue to include women’s health in its work to teach and train the health workforce in resource-scarce countries.
Visit our project finder and select “Women’s Health” to learn more about HVO’s projects with a women’s health component.