Today, International Women’s Day is being commemorated at a special juncture. It is 25 years since the Beijing Platform for Action and 5 years since the world committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year International Women’s Day, calls for collective individualism to accelerate efforts towards building an equal and enabled world. #EachforEqual
Women are central to the grand vision of New India which is not only focusing on women development, but on women-led development. This is being witnessed on many fronts, women are the leading force of the country’s development trajectory; health and well-being is at the heart of it all.
Ensuring Health Security: Strengthening Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Response
Globally women as part of global health workforce are contributing to deliver strategic, technical and operational support to prepare and respond to COVID-19. In India, with strong presence of women in MoHFW, ICMR, NCDC, UN, airports and hospital workforce are at the forefront, as an integral part of our everyday progress. From policy-makers to providers, from senior management to field staff, women are ensuring that the Indian health system is adequately responding to the ongoing Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Unlocking Potential: International year of Nursing and Midwifery
This year is also the International year of Nursing and Midwifery. In India, where most women’s first interaction with the health system is through pregnancy, nurses and midwives play a vital role in providing health services. Women health workforce form the base of the pyramid on which the Indian health-system rests. Government of India (GoI) has committed to training 90,000 midwives ready to move them up and fill in the workforce gap by 2023. As WHO, it is our proud privilege to wholeheartedly support this initiative.
Attaining Universal Health Coverage: Starting with Reproductive Health
India is taking massive strides towards ensuring universal health coverage (UHC) through Ayushman Bharat and WHO has been its partner since the beginning. Bringing women’s health and reproductive rights to the centerstage of this conversation, GoI in January 2020 took a historic decision to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971. This will make India one of the most progressive countries in the world, with increased access to dignity, autonomy and confidentiality for women and their reproductive health needs, safeguarded by law.
Realizing Equity: Through Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs)
Equity is cross-cutting across SDGs, NFHS IV shows that although two-thirds (63%) of women participate in household decisions, yet their access to healthcare is limited till pregnancy. With HWCs (Ayushman Bharat’s pillar for delivering comprehensive primary care), we are witnessing more women accessing health services in India than ever before - 70 lakh women screened for Cervical Cancer in the last two years. This is a great start and needs to be sustained. This is also an extraordinary example of how with policy, commitment and determination, we can address even the most neglected issue
Creating Opportunity: Starting with Ourselves
WHO India is committed to supporting the county through with its actions and efforts for a new, empowered and healthy India. We proudly say that women at WCO, make up 54% of our national staff and nearly 73% of international staff. Women are equal and full participants in leading and achieving our heath goals and determining our collective future.
We are at a critical moment
With only one decade left towards attaining the SDGs, this year holds great potential. On this day, let us recommit ourselves to recognize the contribution of women around us; and adopt gender-transformative policies to address gender inequities and improve participation of women in global health.
It is important that we must all join hands to bring greater attention to recognizing women’s role in health as drivers of change. To achieve the full participation of women and girls, it will take engagement from everyone including you and me. Mahatma Gandhi famously said – “be the change you want to see in the world”. Let us all individually and collectively celebrate the achievement of all women around us and commit ourselves to create an equal and enabled world.