Let’s change our outlook to woman
Dr. Nowsheen Sharmin Purabi
Egalitarianism of men and women is the journey of development, will change the world, a new dimension to the work. Our women are hardworking, brave, and talented. Today we need a change of outlook on the question of equality. This change must start from the family and society.
Poverty and lack of social security still limit the parents of girl child to embrace child marriage before ending the school. The government has made access to free education, but on the way to reach school, who will give the security to the girl?
Minimum age of marriage ought to be 16 or 18 thereof no issue of social movements. We need to build a society where a girl can equally feel safe inside and outside the home. In many families investing in daughter’s education, nutrition, health, and the cost of daily needs do not seem a lucrative investment than investing in son.
According to UNICEF; Bangladesh ranks fourth in the rate of child marriage. Sixty-five per cent female children of this country get married before being eighteen years. The girls who become pregnant before 18, experience adverse physical, mental effects for mother and baby too. These mothers are seldom able to play the role as an ideal mother in future.
Sometimes we hesitate to provide the necessary health information to the teenage girls during puberty. This leads to prejudice and misinterpretation. Grief-stricken reality is that misinterpretation among the adolescents nowadays has more or less the same extent of misinterpretation that I experienced twenty-five years back.
The girls with a lot of physical inconveniences sometimes cannot tell her family or a teacher. That is why each health care center must have one adolescent corner where they will be able to find solution of their problems freely.
Due to lack of family and social support, large number of girls opted to stay away from challenging profession. Some fracture to come in the middle of the boulevard. We need to increase the family and social support for the women. Husband should play an important role in this regard. About 80 percent female of this country at some time in their life is abused by their husband. Only 2.1% took legal action against it.
Many rich, established women endured her husband’s abuse due to lack of social security. The image is same in rural and urban area. Very few women are able to swear that they have not heard anything disgraceful from her husband in their lifetime.
We should work to bestow women the opportunity to prove their ability, safety in workplace, freedom of movement, standard day care center to look after her child in absence of her. In Bangladesh still there is inadequate day care center compared to the needs. According to the labor law, if there is 40% of female worker in an institute, there should be day care facility for the children up to the age of 6. It is necessary to monitor its implementation. During office hour, many parents prefer to keep their child in day care center than to domestic workers.
The commendable role of Bangladesh is reducing maternal mortality rate. 62 percent of mothers still give birth at home. 56 percent give birth at the hands of the TBA those who do not have any scientific training on this topic. Often they cannot determine the complicated condition inside the womb, during birth and postpartum and cannot take immediate necessary action.
In spite of Government’s free facilities women’s are not coming to the health centers for delivery due to poverty, religious and social bigotry and lack of awareness, lack of necessary vehicles or bad conditions of the road. Lack of female doctor or caesarean section fears also works here. However, attention must be given to sustainable development.
Women across the world deserve a generous, respectful health care. What do we mean by respectful health care? While providing health care, women should be given necessary privacy. In our country, doctors of busy public or private hospitals sometimes do not pay proper attention in this issue.
Simultaneously 2/3 or more patients are giving history or physically examined. In front of many people/doctors when a woman is asked about her personal health problems, many women feel embarrassed and do not open up all the problems. Some of them stop consulting doctors to avoid this embarrassment. We will have to give every patient’s privacy as her honor. Details about patient’s illness, rules of taking medication, alternate treatment options should be discussed thoroughly. This is the right of patient.
In our society, most of the time the daughter-in-law is sent to her mother’s house as soon as she is diagnosed as pregnant! People try to establish the concept that the look after of the pregnant lady will be better there. Both husband and wife are liable to the responsibility of looking after the expecting child. From the first day if the husband and wife cannot work as a team, it will be difficult for the wife in the long run to get required support from the male partner. Women should be aware of it. Pregnancy is a new experience for women as well as men.
Few days ago, to get technical assistance of my health awareness programs, I met one high ranked government official and discussed some ideas to improve women’s overall health. She did not understand the depth of its need and answered with a satisfactory smile, “We’re already working on maternal health.” We must remember that “Woman is not only a baby making machine.” From policy making to its implementation female health is confused with maternal health. Woman with suboptimum pre pregnant health status cannot be able to conceive and take care of a healthy baby.
We see many patients who have offices from 9 to 5 of a day. After office due to traffic jam, other household responsibilities they could not come to consult with doctor at a regular and timely manner. As a result, the disease continue to progress. On the day when she cannot get out of bed due to illness, could not go to the office, that day she came to the doctor. If she came early it could be easy, less costly.
For this reason, every workplace should have minimum health checkup facility. It will be better for women if they may have the opportunity of flexible working hour.
Women who are enlightened at present with their glorious contribution to the society crosses over obstacles and go ahead. Mutual communication and cooperation among them should be established. All these efforts can build a society in which men and women will enjoy equal rights and dignity.
The writer is a Physician and health awareness activist
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