Marcette Buttigieg
Women are of value in themselves, like every other human person. And so their health matters. And women’s health matters even more because on them depends the health of the next generation.
Sadly the health status of women in India is much lower than that of men. Health is influenced by many factors, among which nutrition, socio-economic condition and gender inequality are highly significant. It seems that among Adivasi populations women are held in relatively higher regard, yet when we look at their health status we find that it is worse than that of other social groups.
So on this International Day for Women’s Health, here is a Call to Action.Even though health care services remain limited, there are areas for action that can bring significant improvement in the health status of the Adivasi women that we work with.
Improve nutrition. A girl child is born anaemic because her mother is anaemic. And this girl child will grow into an anaemic adolescent and eventually into an anaemic mother of the next generation of anaemic children, who start life at a disadvantage. Anaemia causes other problems also: infertility, problems during pregnancy. Remedies are available: a supply of six months of iron tablets is available for every pregnant woman. Green vegetable is available throughout the countryside, free of cost, and can also be grown near one’s house.
Early diagnosis will prevent serious illnesses. Usually, when the Adivasis become ill, they will ‘wait and see’ hoping the problem will go away. They wait for a crisis before they go to a real doctor.
Cancer of the cervix is becoming more common and the larger proportion of women with cervical cancer are diagnosed too late. When women learn to go to a doctor as soon as they have unusual symptoms, these preventable deaths will be reduced.
To bring about these changes in the mentality of our Adivasi women, we have to spend time listening to them and their concerns; and then help them know their bodies better, teach them about illness and treatment. Give them the knowledge necessary to enable them to make good choices about their health.
In the long run, education is always better than instruction.