Health issues facing women not homogenous; they go beyond medicine, says First Lady.
Cape Town (South Africa) 22 nd MARCH 2017, (PSCU) First Lady Margaret Kenyatta today told an international congress of doctors gathering in the Port City of Cape Town that health issues facing women and girls go beyond medicine and must be addressed holistically.
She said the health issues facing women are as diverse as the women themselves and are not limited to scientific and biological components, but informed by socio- economic, political and cultural realities that also differ across communities and regions. She said health issues involving women and girls are also complex and divergent, some systemic.
The First Lady said that for any health interventions to succeed among women and girls they must be sensitive to their needs, desires beliefs and orientations of affected groups and communities. “World views must not be imposed. Solutions must be co- owned by communities”
The First Lady spoke at the just concluded Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG-2017) World Congress at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa, that brought together over 2300 health professionals drawn from 77 countries, 22 from Africa.
She said medical and scientific health responses to women and girls risk failure unless they are adapted to cultural contexts and account for nuance for the people they seek to assist.
The theme of her keynote address was women and girls Health in Africa– -Shifting the Paradigm. “As we strive to create interventions to support the health of women and girls, we should not overlook the simple for the spectacular”, said the First Lady who was also honoured with the Honoris Causa Award for her unflinching commitment to end maternal and child mortality in Kenya under the Beyond Zero initiative. RCOG, which has 14000 members from across the world, awards the Fellowships of Honoris Causa in recognition of the work of individuals who are not members of the global association but who have immensely contributed to the advancement of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Women’s Health Services or work of the RCOG.
The Honorary Fellowships are the highest Awards by the RCOG and are given following a rigorous exercise of screening and vetting by the Council. The First Lady said besides fighting from relevant fronts against the health challenges facing women, there is also need to address the fundamental issues that have led to the historic marginalization of women and girls.
Lobbying for political and policy actions and enhancing grassroots engagement for women issues are among the proactive actions that should be taken, said the First Lady. She said rapid changes in technology now affords women and girls more options and advanced medical tools for dealing with diseases including cancer.
“We are in an era, for instance, where cancers can be identified and treated with a higher degree of precision than ever before and using a wide range of methods”, she told the health professionals led by RCOG president Prof. Lesley Regan. The First Lady said the battle for the health of women must also be fought from all fronts especially in this era when non- communicable diseases pose an increasingly serious threat amongst low and middle income countries. “There is no doubt that we need to significantly compound the amount of time, capital and human resources dedicated to addressing non communicable diseases”, said the First Lady adding that Cancer was increasingly wrecking havoc in the lives of many women.
The First Lady however cautioned that, as the world turns its attention to combat the threats posed by non- communicable diseases, care must be taken to safeguard the gains made in dealing with communicable diseases like TB, HIV, Cholera and Hepatitis among others. She lauded the critical role played by Obstetricians and Gynecologists in advancing the health of women and girls. She said the role by this category of health professionals is often not understood or appreciated. “Yet you are on the front lines of duty every day supporting maternal and child health, fighting reproductive organ cancers and addressing a host of other issues that affect women and girls across the continent”, she said
She said there is need to train more obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Africa and ensure their services are more accessible to all women. The First Lady expressed optimism for more partnerships between the health professionals, the rest of the medical fraternity, Governments and Civil Societies among other stakeholders.
The First Lady said that through the Beyond Zero initiative, she was fully aware of the invaluable contribution by Obstetricians and gynaecologists . She said the Beyond Zero has now broadened the scope of its work and operations to target cervical and breast cancer which are sadly gaining prominence in society.
The First Lady said although she was the visible face for a fast and invisible movement, Beyond Zero encompasses hundreds of thousands of people including ordinary citizens, activists, educators, health professionals, volunteers, civil servants, philanthropists among many other groups—all committed to ending maternal and child mortality.
She said the ultimate goal of Beyond Zero, which she is the patron of, is to construct a national referral hospital for women and children.
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