World Health Day: Why should women and women’s health be a priority?

The campaign – launched by the World Health Organization, coincides with the International Health Day corresponding to April 7 – Governments and health community urge to intensify efforts to end the deaths of mothers and births that can be prevented, and to give priority to women’s health and their long -term well -being.

The organization said that women and families everywhere need high -quality care, physically and emotionally, before and after birth. She stressed the need for health systems to develop many problems that affect the health of the mother and the newborn, which are not limited to complications related to birth directly, but also include mental health, non -communicable diseases and family planning.

Women and conflicts

The percentage of women and girls in the conflict areas increased dramatically in the past year, as women now make up 40 percent of all civilian deaths in armed conflicts.

More than 600 million women and women have lived in damaged areas of violence, a 50 % disturbing increase since 2017.

Women and girls also bear a heavy burden on mental health in conflict areas, including Gaza, Sudan, Afghanistan and Ukraine, where millions of people suffer from post -traumatic disorder, anxiety, depression, and psychological trauma, with limited opportunities to obtain support and care.

In Gaza, women and girls, who live under siege and constant threat of violence, are facing severe levels of fear, shock and exhaustion.

The United Nations Women’s Data shows that 75 percent of them suffer from regular depression, 62 percent cannot sleep, and 65 percent suffer from nightmares and anxiety, and most of them are left to face these conditions alone.

” “My mental and psychological health is deteriorating. Sometimes I go to the bathroom to cry, and I cry until I feel better.”.Phole. Other. Head “I did not give my priority because I am the main shepherd of my children, and I take over the role of the father and mother.”.

The effect of lack of financing

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has reported that the current human finance crisis, which was exacerbated due to low health spending in the host countries, affects the scale and quality of public health and nutrition programs for refugees and host communities.

In Jordan, for example, 335,000 women of childbearing age face the risk of losing basic motherhood care services. Without sufficient financing, prenatal care services, safe birth and new births will disappear.

In Bangladesh, about a million Rohingya refugees face a severe health crisis due to the freezing of financing, which threatens to obtain basic medical services. In programs supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 40,000 women may lose the possibility of pre -child care, while five thousand women are at risk of birth in unsafe circumstances.

The death of each two minutes

Another international report released today under the title “Mothers Matters Trends” showed a 40 % decrease in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023, and this is largely due to the improvement of access to basic health services.

However, the report – issued by a number of United Nations agencies – reveals that the pace of improvement has been significantly slowing since 2016, and that about 260,000 women died in 2023 as a result of complications from pregnancy or birth, which is almost equivalent to one death among mothers every two minutes.

The UN agencies said that this report comes at a time when human financing discounts cause severe effects on basic health care in many parts of the world, forcing countries to reduce vital services to the health of the mother, the newborn and the child.

The report warned that if there are no urgent measures, pregnant women in many countries will face severe consequences, especially in human environments where mothers’ deaths are already worrying.

The necessity not luxury

The United Nations Women’s Authority stressed that for women and girls in conflict areas, mental health care is an urgent need, not a luxury. Recovery, dignity and survival depends on accessing psychological care, psychological consultations, and community services.

She added that as conflicts continued to destroy societies, the need to support mental health has become more urgent than ever.

She stressed the need for countries to invest in mental health as an essential part of the humanitarian response, especially in cases of conflict, calling on governments to listen and move.