Although women live longer than men, new evidence indicates women bear a disproportionately heavy burden of disease. The effect of disease on economic productivity of women in developing countries has been largely ignored. Infections are often causes of disease in women, including those that affect reproductive health. Although men and women usually experience similar rates of many diseases, rates of exposure and treatment vary between men and women. If untreated, factors adversely affecting women's health in one stage compound women's ill health in succeeding stages.
PIP: This article discusses women's health in developing countries, urges improvements, identifies specific causes of death by age, and indicates future trends and effective strategies for improvements. A number of international conferences have been held to discuss women's health issues. Reference is made to the World Bank's "World Development Report for 1993" and the statistic that women suffer more disability than men. Women are considered to have a greater disease burden than men. Effective strategies include preventing or delaying births to women who do not desire any more children. Increased use of family planning and safe abortion might avert 100,000 maternal deaths each year due to pregnancy related causes and 200,000 maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion. Health services might be extended through use of non-health professionals who are trained as health providers. Well-trained traditional birth attendants and an effective referral system were found to be effective in northeast Brazil. The "safe motherhood" interventions of the World Bank are considered to be the most cost effective. Women need to take more responsibility for their own health. Women's disease burden can be reduced by safe motherhood strategies, safe birthing practices, pre- and postnatal care, ready access to quality family planning, safe abortion services, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Women's health might improve with better access to safe water, good hygiene, and knowledge about safe cooking practices and about the maintenance of good health. Strategies must be directed to gender-specific causes of mortality by age group. Migration is expected to affect women's health status. Urban settings and destitute living conditions that force women into prostitution place women at greater risk of morbidity and mortality.