Everywhere women are choosing how to celebrate International Women's Day. The vast majority, of course, mark the day as they always do -- just trying to survive and do their best for their families. For those of us fortunate to be able to take time out to do something more, it is vital we understand how much our collective efforts make a difference.
We are still faced, after a century of International Women's Days, with the challenge of achieving equality, opportunity and fairness for girls and women. We need this the most in the poorest parts of the world.
We have our sights set on the UN's Millennium Development Goals as targets for reducing global poverty including a gender goal, and one on maternal mortality. We can all hold our international leaders to account in reaching these goals. And in so doing we will play our part, every single day, in some small way to make a difference for girls and women.
As we aim to tackle the great injustice of high maternal mortality and to improve infant and child survival and health, we should draw on all that women have to offer. We must find a way to put more women into dignified work -- and this provides an opportunity to meet a great unmet need. That need is more trained health workers. 3.5 million of them in fact.
To mark the 100th International Women's Day, it is as good a place as any to start with UN Women's objective to seek a pathway to decent work for women. Back in 1911, the very first International Women's Day was held in a number of European cities to protest unfair wages and poor conditions of work for women. Today, much of the focus lies similarly in seeking equal treatment, repairing injustices and opening up the opportunity for women to improve their lives in the poorest parts of the world. As UN Women's Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet, said just last week, "Women's strength, women's industry, women's wisdom are humankind's greatest untapped resource." So the call for health workers could not be more timely.
This week, the international professional associations representing 15 million of the world's nurses, midwives, obstetricians, gynecologists and pediatricians have signed a powerful letter to President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania. This letter calls for proper investment in health professionals. President Kikwete is the African co-chair (alongside Prime Minister Harper of Canada) of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women and Children's Health, aiming to steer resources towards results for reducing maternal and child mortality.
As supporters of the letter, we are counting on the Commission to build momentum on health workers at global moments throughout 2011. Building on this, we believe the UN General Assembly in September will be an ideal moment for donor and developing country governments to make specific commitments to provide more and better trained nurses, midwives, doctors and community health workers, and enabling work environments.
The UN Secretary General's Global Strategy for Women and Children's Health -- which launched with $40 billion in commitments in September 2010 -- is continuing to gather momentum. In addition to government pledges, nearly 20 global corporations have made commitments. These include Johnson & Johnson's pledge to reach 120 million women and children in low-income countries over the span of five years, through avenues including grants, medicine donations, and research and development. In addition, international organizations such as Care, Save the Children and World Vision have not only promised programming but have also made large financial commitments.
Equally important, civil society -- including the White Ribbon Alliance (WRA)'s National Alliances, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Save the Children, Care, Family Care International and World Vision -- are holding national governments accountable for commitments made.
For example, WRA Uganda is targeting district leaders to increase budgetary allocation for maternal health and to address the health worker gap. In Nigeria, WRA is calling on state-level members of Parliament to invest in cost-effective, life-saving interventions and is tracking the national and state level contributions to the health budget. In India, where government policies are strong, WRA is launching a nation-wide campaign to prepare women, families and communities to prepare for birth and complications.
I know that the hardest thing for grassroots organizations and local advocacy groups who hold other accountable on the ground is to get good support. Yet, whether it is through public hearings, use of checklists, verbal maternal death autopsies -- people-centered advocacy works. It must be time for donor governments and multi- or bi-lateral agencies to stop just talking about accountability and governance and start backing those individuals and organizations that really do deliver day after day. A bit of brave support extended in that direction would yield some great dividends.
And the grassroots activities don't stop there for the White Ribbon Alliances and other NGOs, which in many countries are focusing not only on women and health workers. Efforts are also being made to engage young people, parliamentarians, men, religious leaders and the corporate sector -- and all learning from each other about how to make a big noise on maternal and newborn health with innovative activities like musical convoys, films, concerts, fashion shows, public hearings, marches and more... now in more than 150 countries! There is no end to the ways that we can all play our part to make this 100th International Women's Day a real springboard from which to make a genuine difference and to see lasting change finally arrive for those girls and women who need it most.
Sarah Brown is global patron of the White Ribbon Alliance and author of Behind The Black Door published by Ebury Publishing on March 3, 2011. Follow her on Twitter: @SarahBrownUK
This has caused layoff of healthcare workers in our area of Florida. Cancer tretaments are down 35% as snow birds nolonger can afford to travel to Florida for the winter, German and Canadians and etc., because of the 300% Insurance increases can nolonger retire in Florida driving housing prices further down and even Americans under medicare age are not able to afford the 50K plus insurance premiums and thus are retiring in the surrounding countries with national healthcare at 1/30 th the cost or even less. The higher deductables and of course the increase in those w/o insurance means patients are forgoing checkups and exams and thus are not getting cancer treatments... no we did not cure cancer in the last 3 years!
So yes there s/b jobs in healthcare, but infact the largest piece of the healthcare dollar goes to Insurance companies that treat no one( up 700% since 1980 -5% to 35%) and their employees are now in India and for drugs where we pay 5 times more for the same drugs as elswhere, also all now made in China or India..
Regards
With trained health-care staff, properly equipped primary health-care and emergency facilities, and adequate medicines and supplies, most maternal deaths and illnesses could be prevented. But deeper, underlying causes keep the goal of safe motherhood out of reach for many developing countries. Many women are unable to negotiate contraceptive use with their husbands; nor do they demand the right to share in decision-making .This lack of power may be magnified in the face of domestic violence.
The meager budgets allotted for sexual and reproductive health care are rarely challenged. Poverty, gender discrimination, social exclusion and political insecurity all serve to deepen and solidify the causes of maternal death.
Reducing the toll of maternal deaths and illnesses requires a human rights-based approach, with gender equality and cultural sensitivity at its core. An enabling environment for women’s rights is free from violence. This requires not just protection from abuse, exploitation, discrimination and violence, but also implies a decent standard of living, education, equality and greater involvement of men.
Aminata Toure, Chief, Gender Branch, UNFPA
computer work these days ? Nobody, not the doctor or the patient will ever read or look at these notes,
but nurses are required to document everything, every hour and every day and night. It is all supposedly
medico-legally necessary, ,meaning for the lawyers in case someone or the hospital gets sued. Now, isn't that ironic ?
I am interested in the health of health care workers at all levels in our nation's broken health care system- but especially our lowest paid health care workers.
The ill health of our health care workers is one of our nation's most glaring paradoxes.
Shame on us!
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
http://www.youtube.com/user/danpeak?feature=mhum
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_Hospital_Corpsman)
or MSC Medical Services Officer:
(http://www.sealiftcommand.com/medical-services-officer-3)
over any civilian health care professional as my primary care provider ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. A healthcare system manned and run by IDCs, with specialists available when needed, would so vastly improve the quality of healthcare and so dramatically reduce the cost of healthcare that it would transform the entire situation.
The last thing we need is to put yet more inefficient civilian healthcare workers behind yet more computer terminals.
The Army, Air Force, or Navy/USCG will provide the training, the work experience, the credentials, and the resume, a good paycheck, and benefits. They expect service in return. Military medical facilities, including USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort (largest, fastest self-contained trauma hospitals in the world) regularly provide vast amounts of medical care to those around the world who need it.
If someone wants what they want, but doesn't want to do what it takes, then that's a different problem altogether.
keep in mind that there are relatively few "new" healthcare jobs created, most of the demand is replacement workers in this high stress, high burnout and turnover profession
not everyone has the constitution to be around all that illness and sadness as well - not something cut out for everyone
So they want a "more effective replacement", why were there no such efforts during the many years the Repubs controlled the Congress and the White House?
And, yes, if some in the GOP could get away with it, they'd have all in service professions working many more hours for much less pay.
it looks like den1953 has more of a grasp on the GOP's pulse than you.
Right now they have a full court press on our teachers, police and firefighters, what
makes you think nurses aren't next?