By: Jane Roberts, 34 Million Friends of the United Nations Population Fund
The opening of Peter Hotez’ op-ed column in the Los Angeles Times (“Diseases We Can Stop but Don’t” 12-12-2010) caught my eye. “Some of the world’s most glaring heath problems affecting impoverished girls and women are also some of the easiest to address. The fact that we consistently fail to do so is puzzling.”
Yes, it is puzzling, but when all the myriad pieces of the puzzle are finally put together, you have the complete picture. And the complete picture is worldwide gender inequality.
Gender inequality is the reason the world does not come up with the 32 cent per year treatment which would prevent the “ghastly and acutely painful” ulcers from genital schistosomiasis which results in a woman’s social isolation and also makes her much more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
My particular interest is reproductive health. I am the cofounder of 34 Million Friends of the United Nations Population Fund, an 8 year long grassroots effort asking 34 million Americans and others to take a stand for women’s access to all that reproductive health entails with at least one dollar. Please see www.34millionfriends.org.
Gender inequality is the reason 350,000 women die every year giving birth. Gender inequality is the reason 2 million women are walking the earth with unrepaired obstetric fistulas. Gender inequality is the reason there is a shortage of family planning commodities. Please watch the 80 second trailer of Population Action International’s Empty Handed video at www.empty-handed.org. Please visit www.rhsupplies.org, a consortium trying to urge reproductive health commodity reliability and security.
Gender inequality is the reason the world tolerates 20 million unsafe and illegal abortions every year causing at least 13 percent of the pregnancy related deaths and at least 5 million cases of injuries, hemorrhages and infections requiring post-abortion care. » Read more: Piecing the Puzzle Together
