The International Woman’s Day theme for 2016 is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. Women have come a long way. Their role in the society is not limited to reproduction and an aid to men. Today she stands on equal footing as men. She does everything that only men did, up until a few decades ago. She serves in the military; she runs businesses, leads nations, runs space missions, makes families and fights the fair fights of the society. Among all this she hasn’t given up on the institution of marriage and family. She is still a mother first and a woman.
It’s not easy for a woman to make it in this male dominated world. Not all nations of the world consider their women citizens to be equal to their male citizens. In some war trodden countries, the situation of women is abominable. She is traded as a physical quantity and treated worse than animals. In the more developed and free thinking world, she has to face gender inequality, unequal pay issues, and biased medical issues.

Many countries do not give importance to many health issues faced by women. No gender specific health care criterion is available to them. Mental health and reproductive health of women are some such issues which have long awaited significant development. Today we divert our attention towards a handful of such issues.

Cancer – Cancer affects women more than any other form of diseases, with two of the most common ones being breast and cervical cancers. It is said that each year around half a million women die from cervical cancer and half a million from breast cancer. Most women still do not know about the mammograms and pap tests, when and how to take them. Breast and cervical cancer awareness is important in today’s time and day.

Mental Health – Women are more likely to face depression and anxiety at some point of their life than men, due to biological differences. While depression is the most common mental health problem for women, suicide is a leading cause of death. Abuse and neglect are often factors in women’s mental health problems. Treatments need to be sensitive to and reflect gender differences.

Heart Disease – Heart diseases are a leading cause of death. Important differences in the approaches to treatment and prevention of heart disease between women and men have lead to the increase in death numbers. We should be made more aware of the heart healthy choices they can make and the kind of lifestyle they should lead so as to lead a happy, healthy life.

Reproductive and Maternal Health – Sexual and reproductive health problems are responsible for one third of health issues for females between the ages of 15 and 44 years. It said that unsafe sex is a major risk factor, particularly among females in developing countries. While progress has been made, almost 300, 000 women died from complications in pregnancy and childbirth, and most of these deaths could have been prevented if the women had access to family planning and basic services.
HIV/AIDS – HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for ladies aged between 15 to 44-years-old. It said that too many young girls still struggle to protect themselves against sexual transmission of HIV and to get the treatment they require. The stigma attached to STDs is also a major factor for these deaths. It stops them from seeking the required medical help and advice.

These entire problem have one thing in common, they all seek a very different gender specific approach towards handling them. It’s about time gender specific studies and research to start, and we should enjoy equal rights as men.
Political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. With all the efforts dedicated towards us for one day, it is essentially to have resources diverted towards our health.



Source by Aditya Kumar Tripathi

By mike