April 2002 - Eliminate Poverty in All Stages of Life
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Access to means of meeting basic social and economic needsThe most basic rights are not guaranteed in many countries, and women have made them the subject of demands that are often very specific and concrete, as spelled out in their national platforms. Among the specific demands was setting up basic and emergency health centres throughout the country (Cameroon, Ecuador, Honduras, Kurdistan, Mali, Niger, Togo). "Health is a right," said the women of El Salvador, Chile, and Peru, as they demanded quality service and preventive care. Many coordinating bodies called for a reduction in the price of medications, made prohibitive by the big pharmaceutical companies' stranglehold (Haiti and Togo). "A list of health services covered free of charge must be established," claimed the Tunisian women, anxious to maintain a free and universal public health care system. Canadian women also refused to accept the privatization of health care. Mexican women demanded enough funding for health institutions so that all women can have access to them. All women should be able to give birth safely, without their lives being endangered (Angola, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Honduras, Morocco, Nicaragua). The prevention of uterine and breast cancer was another demand, along with warnings about over-medicalization, leading to "unnecessary operations and inappropriate treatments," in the words of the women of Luxemburg. The right to sexual information and adequate services for both women and adolescent girls was another demand (Chile, Peru). Last, women insisted on the need for active campaigns against sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS (Brazil, Chile, Great Lakes subregion in Africa, Mali, Morocco) and for health care for persons with AIDS on a non-discriminatory basis (Angola, Barbados, Cape Verde, Chad, Gabon). |
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Last modified 2006-03-23 03:09 PM This item is available in Français, English, Español |