Women hit hardest
In 2008, hundreds of activists demonstrated their love for knitting as part of our woollen maternal health campaign. This year we're taking action again – this time to make sure governments put public healthcare services first. This will help protect the thousands of women and children in developing countries.
A woman dies every minute in pregnancy and childbirth because of weak public health care structure – adding up to over half a million deaths each year. And although over 90 percent of maternal deaths are preventable, pregnancy remains the leading killer of women in their reproductive years in developing countries.
To increase access to healthcare for women, we need to put public first
Across the developing world, women are more likely than men to fall ill, but less likely to receive medical care.
But in many countries, the pursuit of profit is putting decent health care out of reach. Women are being forced to pay for private treatment that they simply can't afford or is so low in quality that it risks lives.
- They are expected to care for sick family members
- They are the main users of unqualified shop keepers as a source of information and drugs
- They also make up the bulk of the lower skilled formal health workers and suffer the most from private sector cost saving policies such as increasing workload, lower wages and inceased job insecurity
This must change
The international community must start taking public services seriously – and that means paying for health services provided by government that are proven to deliver for the poorest people. Only poor countries that rely mainly on public health services have succeeded in providing health care for all.
