Health has always been a major issue in India. And like many other issues, we can see the disparity between men and women as far taking care of personal health is concerned. It is very common in Indian houses where women provide good food and takes care of every need of men of the house, but they neglect the females of the house including them.
Jaya Choudhary (changed name), is 75. She daily makes juice for her husband Umesh Choudhary (Changed name) 80, and makes sure that he eats dry fruits and other healthy items time to time apart from two time meal. But at the same time, she conveniently skips having the same juice, fruits and dry fruits. According to her, “we cannot afford buying these things in large quantity. So if one person is having it, that would be sufficient.”
Currently, women in India have to face numerous health issues, which ultimately affect the aggregate economy’s output. Addressing the gender, class or ethnic disparities that exist in healthcare and improving the health outcomes can contribute to economic gain through the creation of quality human capital and increased levels of savings and investment.
Two Common health issues faced by Indian women
- Malnutrition: Nutrition plays a major role in and individual’s overall health, psychological and physical health status is often dramatically impacted by the presence of malnutrition.
India has one of the highest rates of malnourished women among developing countries. A 2012 study by Tarozzi have found the nutritional intake of early adolescents to be approximately equal. However, it is seen that the rate of malnutrition increases for women as they enter adulthood.
- Lack of maternal health: The lack of maternal health contributes to the economic disparities of mothers and their children. Poor maternal health not only affects a child’s health in adverse ways but also decreases a woman’s ability to participate in economic activities. Therefore, national health programs such as the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Family Welfare Program have been created to address the maternal health care needs of women across India. Although India has witnessed dramatic growth over the last two decades, maternal mortality still remains high as in comparison to many developing nations.
Fact check
India contributes to nearly 20 percent of all maternal deaths worldwide between 1992 and 2006. The primary reasons for the high levels of maternal mortality are directly related to disparities of economic conditions and cultural constraints limiting access to care.
However, maternal mortality is not identical across all of India or even particular state urban areas often have lower overall maternal mortality due to the availability of adequate medical resources. For those states where there is higher literacy and growth rates tend to have greater maternal health and also lower infant mortality.
- Suicide
Suicide is a major problem in India. The suicide rate in India is five times higher than that of the developed world. Furthermore, the rate of suicide has been found to be higher in women as compared to men in India. The most common reasons for women’s suicide is directly related to:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Gender discrimination
- Domestic violence
The suicide rate is particularly high among female sex workers in India, who face numerous forms of discrimination for their gender and line of work.
Time to time checkups
There is only one thing to fight the health factors of females and i.e to have regular health checkups for them. These days many hospitals provide health checkup packages which will cover all the basic and important tests that needs to be done after a particular age.
