Social Media Can Help

Mother’s day is celebrating all over the world every year. On this day, the world remembers and thanks every woman, every mother for brining meaning to the family and to every home. If one were to bring about the same attention to women’s health issues, it would be of help globally. Women’s health is key to the health of the child as well as to the wellbeing of the family. Sadly, women get the least priority and attention when it comes to their health. Gender inequalities, socioeconomic factors as well as the cultural attitudes of the societies have always played down the need for women’s health care. Biologically women go through a lot during their reproductive years and their role as a mother and care giver too calls for better health management. In the changing times, neglecting women’s issues are causing serious problems in the society.

Women’s health is dependent upon a lot of factors. Income inequality, gender inequality, lack of education and no access to health care are some of the primary causes of poor health of women in most of the developing and underdeveloped countries. However the trends of women’s health and problems differ from country to country. In the western countries especially in Europe, there is an alarming increasing trend of teenage pregnancy and early childbirth that has been recorded in the recent years. Exposure to alcohol during teens is leading to drunken driving accidents as well as unwanted pregnancies in the developed societies. Poor parental control, lack of awareness about sex education and methods of safe sex practices is leading to increasing mental and physical problems to the teenage girls. The number of suicides and alcoholism in the age group between twenty two to thirty has also increased.

In the third world countries however the women’s health issues can be attributed to very different causes. In the East Asian countries, exposure to commercial sex forced upon by economic hardships is the leading cause for HIV/AIDS both in the women as well as children. In developing countries however, there seems to be rise in the case of suicides owing to domestic violence and harassment as well as economic hardships.

When we look at the global scenario with reference to the trends of women’s health, there is yet a new trend that is showing up in the form of mental health issues. The number of mental health issues ranging from depression, stress related health diseases, anxiety and fear is giving rise to suicidal tendencies amongst women both from developing as well as developed countries. In the developing countries, the reasons primarily are related to socio economic factors, but in the western world the economic independence and the modern day fast paced lifestyle is said to be causing loneliness and related mental health issues.

Women’s healthcare issues are not very simple to attend to. We need to understand the different dynamics involved with women’s health from different perspectives. This calls for global level discussions and building sensitivity to the issues of women’s health. We certainly hope that social media can help bring such topics to the forefront and pave way for worldwide discussion and action.

Women's Health Info