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Health is a fundamental human right. The basic human rights of young and adult
women and girls to health include the right to life, to liberty and security of person; to
equality before the law; to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health, including sexual and reproductive health; to privacy and confidentiality; to
self-determined sexuality and sexual pleasures; to choose if, when and with whom
to have sexual relations or to marry; and to choose if and when to have children
and under what conditions. They also include the right to full and reliable medical
information; to informed consent, choice and decision-making in health care, reproduction
and infant feeding; to safe and equitable conditions of work and environment;
and to the benefits of scientific progress. Worldwide, millions of women
lack access to adequate health care services, including a full range of safe, reliable
and acceptable forms of contraception. Women and girls are more vulnerable to
STIs, including HIV/AIDS, due to biological, social, economic and cultural factors.
Rates of maternal mortality and morbidity remain unacceptably high. Unsafe abortions
account for at least 13 to 15 per cent of all maternal deaths. Cancer is one of
the leading causes of death in women. Women are increasingly subject to a range
of harmful and addictive products, such as tobacco. One of out five healthy days
of life is lost to girls and women who are subjected to gender-based violence. Health
care and social services generally do not recognise symptoms of gender-based violence
nor do they provide adequate treatment, protection and support to the women and girls in need. Existing policies,
programmes and services do not take into account the situation of women in gender-
disempowered relations in personal and public spheres, where women's health
is still affected by racism, ageism, sexism, and cultural, religious and patriarchal
prejudices. The Health Caucus therefore strongly reaffirms the recommended actions
of the ICPD Programme of Action, the Beijing Platform for Action and the
ICPD+5 document, and urges Governments to:
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Take all necessary steps to ensure that all women throughout the life-cycle
have the right to access the highest quality of comprehensive health services,
particularly sexual and reproductive health services, free of any forms
of discrimination including those based on age, class, race, ethnicity,
civil status, religion, culture, sexuality, dis/ability, health and fertility status,
and geographic location. Ensure all health services are accessible, affordable,
appropriate and internationally acceptable to the needs of young and adult women and girls. Recognise
the unique health needs of adolescents, especially adolescent girls,
and provide specific services, education and information to address these
needs, particularly on sexual and reproductive health issues, and on sexually
transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
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Increase resources for the health care of all women and girls, particularly for
women who are marginalised, indigenous, rural and urban poor, disabled,
elderly, HIV positive and those with migrant and refugee status, and establish
accountability mechanisms to monitor government actions in this area. Provide financial and other forms
of needed support for unwaged caregivers, including older women, since they provide more health services
than all health industries combined.
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Use all forms of education as a tool to improve women's own use of health
care services. Expand women's educational opportunities, and offer reproductive
health and age-specific sexuality education to women of all ages.
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Expand and accelerate efforts to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.
Strengthen maternal and child health care services, including safe pregnancy and delivery and promotion
of infant nutrition and breastfeeding. Ensure that the International
Labour Organization (ILO) Maternity Protection Convention (103) and Recommendation
(95) are revised at the ILO Conference in June 2000 to strengthen entitlements for women at
work. Implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes.
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Ensure that women and girls live in environments that protect their health
with access to adequate nutrition, safe food, clean water, sanitation and shelter.
Ensure that women have the opportunity to participate in and make decisions concerning the management
of these resources at policy levels.
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Integrate human rights, ethics, and gender and age perspectives into education
and training for all health workers at all levels. Ensure that health
workers provide all women and girls with respect, privacy, confidentiality,
and non-judgemental and empowering care that is free of any forms of
coercion, discrimination, threat, intimidation and violence based on age,
class, race, ethnicity, civil status, religion, culture, sexuality, dis/ability,
health and fertility status and geographic location. Provide these health
workers with gender equitable and safe working conditions, and equal
pay for work of equal value.
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Train and equip health service providers and take all necessary measures
to ensure that abortion is safe, legal, accessible and provided nonjudgmentally
to women of all ages, free of fear, discrimination and coercion; and that, if necessary, effective
and timely referrals are made to another qualified provider. Protect providers
of safe abortions and women seeking abortion-related services, including
counselling and post-abortion care, from harassment, violence and coercion. Remove legislation
criminalising abortion and which punish health care workers who perform
abortions and women who undergo abortion. Reduce the need for abortion
by providing accurate information about emergency contraception and making it readily available.
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Eliminate all forms of gender-based violence, honour killings, sexual coercion,
abuse, exploitation, and harmful practices and attitudes against women and girls; notably rape including
marital rape, female genital mutilation, and child and forced marriage,
and violence committed during armed conflicts. Recognise that all women have the right to sexual pleasure.
Provide resources for violence prevention, shelter, support and health services required by survivors.
Adopt fully a gender-based and comprehensive multi-sect oral approach
to meeting the needs of survivors of violence.
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Develop policies and effective programmes for young and adult men
and boys to develop responsible behaviour and attitudes conducive to
gender equality and equity and women's empowerment, particularly in relation
to men's sexual responsibility.
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Establish institutional mechanisms for women to participate fully and equally
in decision-making regarding health issues, particularly sexual and reproductive
health and rights, mental health, occupational and environmental health issues. Implement affirmative
actions to increase the number of women in policymaking, research, planning, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation of health policies and programmes, with the goal to ensure
equal and equitable participation of young and adult women.
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Ensure that economic and health reforms, trade agreements and structural
adjustment policies fully guarantee the provision of safe, affordable, equitable,
accessible, appropriate and the highest quality of health, education
and social services. Redirect an amount equivalent to at least five per
cent of military expenditures annually to young and adult women's and girls'
health services.
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Ensure that public health and environmental health are placed before
commercial interests, such as trade agreements and the marketing and
promotion of tobacco and other harmful products. Ensure equal and equitable access to essential drugs,
equipment and medical supplies, including those related to sexual and reproductive
health and HIV/AIDS, inter alia modern contraceptives, antiretroviral
drugs, female and male condoms, spermicides and microbicides under development. Prevent expropriation
of indigenous medicines and knowledge. Prohibit the export of internationally
substandard and potentially hazardous medical equipment, technologies, drugs, toxic waste and
chemicals such as pesticides, to developing countries.
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Develop in collaboration with women NGOs practical tools and a monitoring
framework of indicators, including financial, gender and age-specific
indicators, for maternal health, breastfeeding, contraception, diagnosis
and treatment for infertility, abortion and post-abortion care,
cancerscreening, HIV/AIDS programmes, etc. within the national health budget.
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Commit more resources to research on women's health and ensure that
all research on women's health include a gender perspective and conform
to the highest ethical and scientific standards, including fully informed
decision-making and consent by young and adult women and girls. In keeping with the right to benefit
from the fruits of scientific progress, women and girls should have access
to research findings and should benefit from the utilization of these results
to formulate gender sensitive policies and programmes.
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Allocate additional and sufficient funding for research into the prevention,
detection and treatment of all cancers, particularly breast, lung, cervical
and ovarian cancers.
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Address the impact of determinants of health such as racism, sexism,
ageism, homophobia and presence and levels of disability on women's
and girls' physical, emotional, mental and social health. These forms of
discrimination are implicit in globalisation and they exacerbate the
challenges women and girls of all ages already face in achieving health. We
urgently call on Governments to recognize that improving the health of
young and adult women and girls is an investment for the future, rather
than an expenditure. Without health, women cannot fully exercise their
other human rights, realize their own potentials, and contribute to development.
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