Empowering women and addressing their needs are the keys to global health
Doctors of the World - USA (DOW) and our partners make every effort to ensure that women are visible and at the center of our efforts, not only because they often have the greatest needs, but because by doing so we will have the greatest impact. This is true not only for programs focused on women’s health, safe motherhood and survivors of human trafficking. It is also the case for our HIV/AIDS treatment projects, Tuberculosis (TB) control initiatives, and child and family care programs.
Marginalization of half the world’s population. Women comprise over 50 percent of the world’s population, yet because of cultural, societal, and religious norms, they are often the most marginalized citizens when it comes to health and human rights. Women constitute the majority of the world’s poor – 70 percent of those who earn less than one dollar a day are women – as well as the largest majority of illiterate adults. Women now make up half of all people living with HIV/AIDS globally, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, young women are four times more likely to be infected than young men. Maternal mortality is the leading cause of early death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries; more than 500,000 women around the world die in childbirth each year. Trafficking in women remains a pervasive and devastating human rights abuse in many parts of the world.
Health and women’s rights are inextricably linked. Discrimination and rights abuses fuel epidemics and increase vulnerability to disease, and keep women from education and services needed to maintain health. DOW projects recognize that the challenges facing women require long-term commitment and partnership at the individual, community, and national level. Our efforts work to build the capacity of communities to address the health needs of women: through clinical trainings for health workers, advocacy on behalf of marginalized groups, and the development of sustainable infrastructure and health delivery systems at the local and national level.
Building capacity and improving access to care. In the West Pokot District of Kenya, DOW provides safe and accessible education and treatment to HIV-positive women through our HIV/AIDS project as well as quality pre- and postnatal care through our Maternal & Neonatal Health Project. DOW works to expand access to information, education and services for HIV-positive women and to reduce the high number of preventable maternal and newborn deaths by building the capacity of local health providers and educating communities about essential care.
Empowering women and preserving families in the face of stigma. Through the MAMA+ Project in Russia and the Ukraine, DOW has developed a network to identify pregnant HIV-positive women at risk of abandoning their babies. Through the provision of comprehensive social, medical, and psychological services, DOW empowers women to keep their newborn children in the birth family environment, in the face of deep stigma and social discrimination from service providers, society, and even their own families.
Comprehensive models for care. DOW has worked closely with local partners and providers to establish Women’s Wellness Centers at three locations in Kosovo, to address inadequacies in health services available to women in the region – a result of years of conflict and discrimination. The WWCs utilize a comprehensive model of care, emphasizing prevention, health education, and counseling along with the provision of reproductive health services, all available at a single location.
Care and support for survivors of trafficking. In Nepal, DOW has started a program to provide care and support services for survivors of trafficking. DOW works to improve the accessibility and quality of care available to this population and has developed a model program to treat the wide range of medical and emotional traumas faced by survivors, providing medical services, documenting trauma, identifying follow-up needs, and developing vocational skills.
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WOMEN'S HEALTH PROJECTS:
KENYA: Partnership for Maternal & Neonatal Health
KOSOVO: Women's Wellness Centers
NEPAL: Care for Survivors of Trafficking & Abuse
RUSSIA: MAMA+ Project for HIV-Positive Mothers and Their Children
UKRAINE: MAMA+ Project for HIV-Positive Mothers and Their Children