The report shed some light on the difficulties women face in seeking for medical attention especially on the maternal health care. Additionally, the difficulties the women face are mostly due to gender disparity. Such women face discrimination based on their gender because they are traditionally considered weak gender. On the hand, another aspect that contributes to the current situation is the women are not empowered economically, socially and politically. Hence, they depend on men who don’t understand the women needs. If there was good will to put the women in power, things might have been different. As such, the women representatives would fight for the rights of the fellow women since they understand the plight of women and what women go through each single day.
The case study also applies here in the united State, despite the tremendous growth of the economy; the agony of the women is the same as that of El Salvador. According to the amnesty report United State is among the countries that are consider among the 50 countries which are dangerous to give birth especially to the minority groups such as the African American women. Additionally, the report stated that more than 1.5 million women suffer from delivery and related problems each year (Amnesty International USA, 2011). As a result, it has deteriorated their health status in general. As such is reported about 300,000 women die due to pregnancy related complications and diseases (Morello, 2014).
Despite the government huge investment the government has put into the health sector, the dilemma of the women has not improved much. This is attributed to the discrimination of women particularly from the minority group due to the bureaucratic governance and policies which don’t have women touch. Additionally, many women have no access to information especially to maternal care and health in general. Hence, many women in particular the young girls suffer in silence since they don’t know who to contact incase they have a problem or what to do incase of an emergency. Furthermore, the situation is worsened by the health practitioners’ shortage experience in the country. Therefore, the staffs at most health care are not enough to deal with women cases or educate women who have come for medical checkups and other services on how to live a healthy life (Buerhaus et al., 2009).
The problem will persist if the education problems are not solved. This is because the number of men who graduate from the university and colleges particularly on science related subject is more compared to that of women. Thus, this means few women in the society will be employed, and many will continue to depend on men. Therefore, due to lack of income, many women don’t have the financial power to buy insurance cover for themselves. It is also evidence that the insurance companies charge more on women than men (Hudson et al., 2010). This problem is also reflected on the decision-making platforms where women are less represented hence their problems are not address adequately. Thus, women will continue to relinquish in poverty and succumbed by health problems if their problems are not addressed urgently (Karl, 2009).
One of the things from the study that will alleviate the living and health standard of women is pushing for gender equality. The government and other stakeholders such religious groups, private entities and nongovernment organization should push for passing of proper legislature that will ensure there is equality in the country and no form of discrimination. Furthermore, women should be empowered in terms of education and financially (Karl, 2009). Thus, essential services/products should be near and accessible to the girl child so that to create that balance in the workforce. The women should be encouraged to form women groups and engage in small income generating activities so that they can support themselves (Carli et al., 2011).
References
Amnesty International USA. (2011). Maternal Health in the U.S. | Amnesty International USA. Retrieved from http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/campaigns/demand-dignity/maternal-health-is-a-human-right/maternal-health-in-the-us
Buerhaus, P. I., Staiger, D., & Auerbach, D. I. (2009). The future of the nursing workforce in the United States: Data, trends, and implications. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Carli, L. L., & Eagly, A. H. (2011). Gender, hierarchy, and leadership: An introduction. Journal of Social Issues, 57(4), 629-636.
Hudson, K. L., Rothenberg, K. H., Andrews, L. B., Kahn, M. J. E., & Collins, F. S. (2010). Genetic discrimination and health insurance: an urgent need for reform.
Karl, M. (2009). Women and empowerment: participation and decision making(Vol. 10). London: Zed Books.
Morello C. (2014). Maternal deaths in childbirth rise in the U.S. - The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maternal-deaths-in-childbirth-rise-in-the-us/2014/05/02/abf7df96-d229-11e3-9e25-188ebe1fa93b_story.html
