“When there is peace in the home, there will be peace in the nation”

Most people will agree that when we say that a woman is an important part of any home and that she forms the backbone of the home. By virtue of her gender coupled with her gender roles, a woman has more health issues than a man. In addition to the biological role of child birth, women are faced with reproductive health related diseases and issues such as Fistula and cervical cancer the most common cancer affecting women worldwide and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in developing countries.

According to the Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), global statistics show that nearly half a million new cases of invasive cervical cancer are diagnosed each year. And more than a quarter million women die of this disease annually, with the highest incidence and mortality rates being in sub-saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Cervical cancer is the most common female cancer in Uganda. At Mulago hospital alone, 80 percent of women diagnosed or referred with cervical cancer, have the disease in its advanced stage. Some of these causes of cancer are related to sexual gender based violence. 

Sexual violence, an act that limits a woman’s power over her body, her sexuality or her reproductive health causes great risk to a woman’s body. However, many times, women do not go for regular health checkups. Many do not report sexual violence acts too since they treat them as normal, others are pre-occupied by gender roles that are not even considered as “Work” just because they are not monetized. They only tend to their health situations when they have decorated and or arelife threatening.

World over, there seems to be fewer females in higher positions in health institutions. Until recently with the appointment of Hon. Min Christine Ondoa, Uganda’s Cabinet health ministers have always been male. Issues of maternal mortality and have always been one of the key areas to address in Uganda due to its high rate over preventable and treatable causes such as abortion. Now with a female medical doctor who is also the current minister for health, we remain optimistic that these issues will be addressed.

According to the 2010 MDG progress report for Uganda, maternal health indicators for Uganda have generally remained poor in the last two decades. Over the period of 1995-2000 maternal mortality stagnated about 505 deaths per 100,000 live births. The Uganda demographic and health survey of 2006 estimated Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) at 435 deaths per 100,000 live births, making a total reduction of only 70 deaths per 100,000 live births in half a decade.

Every woman deserves the right to the highest attainable standard of health, especially the many millions of women who confront illiteracy, poverty, poor sanitation, and medical facilities that are inadequate and physically/ economically inaccessible.

These issues are long term and can’t be solved immediately although the blow of their impact could be reduced through combined effort from the rest of the world in terms of financial support, expertise coupled with cooperation from the men who can act as agents of change in combating sexual gender based violence.

By Maureen Agena & Elizabeth Kasujja