Essay Example on Women's Health: Ensuring Non-Discriminatory Care & Accessibility

Other than ensuring healthy families and achieving the family healthcare needs, women are also faced with exclusive health challenges in their entire lifespans. In improving health for women, it becomes necessary to ensure nondiscriminatory health care, broad accessibility to evidence-based reproductive healthcare programs, and public policies support for women and their families. Most of the women's health concerns include a predominance of particular types of cancer, maternal and reproductive health, violence against women, and mental and behavioral health. Children marriages, female genital mutilation, and rates of transmitting HIV/AIDS and sexual infections (STIs) are also among the major concerns for women across the globe and which deserve additional policy considerations and devoted analysis. This paper identifies the past, present, and future rights that women possess in healthcare.

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Nations have an obligation in promoting healthcare and preventing obstructions to the understanding and upholding of females' social, mental, and physical health-care. According to Cook & World Health Organization (1), "the challenge of securing women's health directs attention not simply to physical and mental health services, but to the justice of the foundations upon which societies function." The rights defining women's health-care are assumed to have started in 1945 with the approval of the "United Nations Charter". In 1966, the United Nations Charter linked with regional convention in American, Europe, and African continents to outlaw discrimination on gender basis hence requiring respect for the different rights relating to the protection and promotion of health. Adopted in 1979, is the Women's Convention that required observation and respect for women's human rights (Abaka n.p). The CEDAW is the initial global agreement in which the country members take the responsibility of eliminating all types of women based discrimination in all aspects of life including health-care to guarantee better health coverage.

Article 16 (1) of the Women's Convention developed in 1994 holds that women have a free and full exercise of their reproductive functions which is inclusive of the right on deciding whether or not to have kids. The right on reproductive function also ensures guaranteed access to safe contraception procedures, family planning, and sex education. Moreover, article (16) provides that women possess the right of deciding the number of kids to give birth to and their spacing. According to Cook & World Health Organization (31), "the policy requires the provision of a full range of reproductive health services, including infertility services, safe and effective contraception, integrated treatment for incomplete abortion and, for example, treatment for menopausal women." Special attention should also be provided to women at high risks who include the victims of violence and adolescents. In ensuring the free exercise of reproductive functions, governments have the responsibility of the minimum marriage age and practices that enforce such laws.

The women's convention through the CEDAW treaty has also in the past provided that women have the right to access healthcare educative information. "To make an informed decision about safe and reliable contraceptive measures, women must have information about contraceptive measures and their use, and guaranteed access to sex education and family planning services, as provided in article 10(1) of the Convention" ( Cook & World Health Organization 31). Article 10 of the Convention holds that women should be provided with particular enlightening information to safeguard the well-being of their folks, as well as family planning advice. In America, the Hyde Amendment, developed in 1977, prevents women from having abortions. The Hyde Amendment does not allow the right to abortion except when the pregnancy is a consequence of incest, rape, or in case the pregnancy poses health risk to the woman. "States can go beyond the Hyde Amendment, and cover medically necessary abortions for qualified women with their state funds" (National Women's Law Center n.p) Majority of the American women with low income and receive Medicare assistance are hence denied abortion coverage.

In present times, women in healthcare have the right to high quality healthcare. In ensuring high quality healthcare for women, health care professionals in all specialties and fields need to be highly trained in health issues concerning women. High quality healthcare for women emphasizes primary and comprehensive care. Internists are being equipped with the knowledge to identify and treat simple to complex chronic diseases and also provide care to both adolescents and mature women. Women also have rights to primary care, which are meant to improve accessibility to specific reproductive wellbeing programs in regions where women face problems in accessing such services (United Nations Population Fund n.p). Rights to primary healthcare help women in addressing issues such as blood sugar, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular concerns that may bring about adverse health effects, especially during pregnancy. Women also have the right to a longitudinal relationship with primary care clinician knowledgeable of women's health needs at all stages of their life to receive any particular health-related concerns that face women.

Women also have rights to access comprehensive, affordable, and nondiscriminatory health care, including evidence-based healthcare. Women have the right not to be overcharged by health insurers, especially in payment of premiums. Women have the rights to access all contraceptive methods with no cost sharing. In American society, laws have been made to make sure that every woman in the country is covered with a health insurance for them sto stay healthy and receive treatment when sick. According to Daniel et al (n.p) "Such coverage includes prevention and wellness services, screening for conditions typically or exclusively found among women, family planning and reproductive care, contraception, preconception care, maternity care, postpartum care, care throughout menopause, mental and behavioral health care, substance use disorder treatment, and prevention and management of chronic diseases" (Daniel et al n.p). The right accessing health insurance ensures not only physical support for women but also their financial stability.

Women have the rights to universal access of medical and family leave plans which offer at least 6 weeks of paid leave. The paid leaves are meant for improving the health results for women and their kin, through which a newborn can have substantial emotional and physical effects. The right for paid maternal leave is meant to increase the breastfeeding period and which may have positive results to both the mother and the child including protecting the child from early infections, reducing the risk for ovarian or breast cancer and helping the mother recover after giving birth. In the present, women also have the right to access screening facilities and tools, especially for victims of sexual violence (Daniel et al. n.p). The access to such devices is meant to improve the treatment of the victims, as many cases have gone unnoticed in the past. In addition to accessing screening tools, women have the liberty to access education and information concerning sexual and intimate partner violence. Access to such information is essential in creating awareness meant to help the victims feel comfortable in discussing IPV issues.

In maintaining reproductive and sexual health, women need to have the right to access accurate information. Women need to adapt to acceptable, effective, safe, and inexpensive methods of contraception. Moreover, women should have the right to access secure abortion services when they need it. Access to the right contraception and abortion procedures will reduce the risks associated with unsafe procedures which cause deaths to many women. Women have the right to be empowered and informed on protecting themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. In situations whereby women make decisions to have children, they need to have access to maternal services which will help them in monitoring the pregnancy, deliver safely and get healthy newborns (United Nations Population Fund n.p).

In the future, women need to have the rights to make their own decisions while consulting health care professionals on issues affecting their health. Communities and governments need to develop policies that reinforce the existing health systems, ensure equality in healthcare administration, improve healthcare quality, and also support the reproductive health care plans for women. Women will also need to have exclusive rights in accessing healthcare services for underprivileged populations, including the poor, young, people in rural areas and disabled women.

Conclusion

In conclusion, quality healthcare provision is vital to women's economic, social and personal health. Legislators need to make considerations into women's health concerns and develop policies that reinforce the societal structures and health care systems to achieve equity in the administration of health to all people and future generations for women.

Works Cited

Daniel, Hilary, Shari M. Erickson, and Sue S. Bornstein. "Women's health policy in the United States: an American College of Physicians position paper." Annals of internal medicine 168.12 (2018): 874-875.

Cook, Rebecca J., and World Health Organization. "Women's health and human rights: the promotion and protection of women's health through international human rights law." (1994).

Abaka, Ch. "Framework for a human rights approach to women's health-the work of the CEDAW Committee." United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, Expert Group Meeting on Women and Health: Mainstreaming the Gender Perspective into the Health Sector, Tunis, 2002.

United Nations Population Fund. "Sexual & Reproductive Health." UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund, 16 Nov. 2016, www.unfpa.org/sexual-reproductive-health.

National Women's Law Center. "The Hyde Amendment Creates an Unacceptable Barrier To Women Getting Abortions." NWLC, 27 Apr. 2017, nwlc.org/resources/hyde-amendment-creates-unacceptable-barrier-women-getting-abortions/.