Ten Facts About Women's Health

Facts about women's health by WHO

Although women have longer life expectancy than men in most countries, a number of social & health factors combine to make the quality of life of women is lower. Inequalities in access to information care and basic health practices further increase the risks to women's health.

Sex discrimination generates many dangers to women's health, such as physical and sexual violence, sexually transmitted infections, HIV / AIDS, malaria and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Snuff consumption is an increasingly important threat to the health of women, and mortality during pregnancy and childbirth remain high in developing countries.

Here highlight 10 key areas that have serious consequences for women's health:

1. Smoking rates tend to be 10 times higher in men than in women. However, snuff consumption among young women in developing countries is increasing rapidly due to strong recent commercial campaigns aimed at women. Overall, the success rates of quitting are lower in women, nicotine replacement therapy may be less effective, and relapses are more frequent than in men. 
2. The 61% of adults infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women. In the Caribbean, the proportion of women infected is 43%. While smaller, the number of infected women is also increasing in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. 
3. 15-71 percent of women have suffered physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lives. These abuses that occur in all walks of life and all economic levels have serious consequences for women's health, either in the form of unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections, depression or chronic illness. 
4. Some studies show that up to a fifth of women report experiencing sexual abuse before age 15. 
5. Although early age marriages are declining, an estimated 100 million girls will marry before age 18 over the next 10 years. This represents one third of adolescent girls in developing countries (excluding China). Girls who marry young often lack knowledge about sex and the risk of contracting HIV / AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. 
6. Each year 14 million adolescent girls become mothers. Over 90% of these young mothers live in developing countries. 
7. Every day, 1600 women and 10,000 newborns die from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. About 99% of maternal deaths and 90% of neonatal deaths occur in the developing world. 
8. Insecticide treated nets reduce malaria cases in pregnant women and their children. When women have their own income, are more likely than men to buy these nets to their homes. However, the use of nets is often associated with sleep patterns that sometimes preclude their use to women. 
9. In most countries, the kitchen is usually a female occupation. When cooking on fires or traditional stoves, daily breathe a mixture of hundreds of pollutants. This smoke is present indoors causes 500 000 of the 1.3 million annual deaths of women due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In contrast, only about 12% of male deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are related to indoor smoke. During pregnancy, the developing embryo exposure to these harmful pollutants can cause low birth weight or even stillbirth. 
10. The risk of visual impairment is significantly higher in women than in men at all ages and across the world. However, women do not have equal access to treatment of eye diseases, often unable to travel alone to health services and cultural differences regarding the perceived value of surgery or other treatments for women.