Islamabad: As the situation for the health of women in Pakistan stands at a dismal 153rd place in the health and survival global index, one of the major reasons for this is the growing gender disparity in healthcare and diminished role in the family system.
As per Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07, the maternal mortality rate was 276 deaths per 100,000 live births. Although it has improved to 186, yet it is too high, Khadija Mughal writes for The Nation.
Moreover, women get insufficient nutrition in many households and families are highly hesitant to take women of their families to a male doctor. To make things worse, around 85,000 female doctors, who have completed their degree, are not part of Pakistan’s medical system, according to a 2019 report.
“A large number of women in lower income group communities in Pakistan don’t have access to healthcare facilities but there are thousands of out-of-profession female doctors, who can be mobilized to serve these patients through telemedicine. This would not only lower disease burden but would also save thousands of lives in the country,” said Dr Sara Saeed, CEO Of Sehat Kahani, a Pakistani healthcare startup.
In the rural population of Pakistan, women face more vulnerability, such as the cultural stigma with women’s use of lavatories in presence of male family members and many women are forced to defecate in open fields, making them unable to maintain proper hygiene, reported The Nation.