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International Bulletin - August 1999

Women's health and bioethics

Half a million women die every year because of complications during pregnancy. Abortion-related deaths account for roughly a third of maternal deaths each year and sexually transmitted diseases disproportionately affect women. In releasing a provisional report on "Women's Health, Bioethics and Human Rights" during its session in the Netherlands, the International Bioethics Committee reiterated the urgency of improving healthcare for women and drew attention to the gender dimension of medical advances, warning that "progress could also be the cause of new forms of discrimination or constraint. " Gathering data and information from a broad body of work, the report's ten chapters cover issues affecting women's health across the life cycle. Several case studies are included. One from India, for example, shows how testing for genetic abnormalities has been used for sex selection. A recent study by the Jaipur Medical College found that 3,500 female foetuses are aborted every year after the test in that city alone. The author concludes that penalties aimed at stopping the practice should go hand-in-hand with "stringent anti-dowry laws and the provision of security for the elderly so that parents do not feel they will have to rely on protection from their sons."

Another study, on the South African Decentralized Education Programme in Advanced Midwifery, shows how participating midwives have been able to bring about change in the communities and hospitals where they work. The women have been encouraged to strike at the root of problems such as infant mortality due to isolation, by pushing for the construction of roads. They have learnt how to build concrete water tanks and latrines and have a negotiating voice in disputes that affect women and children.

"I do think the report breaks new ground," stressed Professor Lorraine Dennerstein, from the University of Melbourne (Australia, and rapporteur of the IBC's working group on Women's Health, Bioethics and Human Rights. "There is extensive information available on women's health outcomes showing tremendous disadvantage for women across the world, but this hasn't been looked at before from a bioethics perspective. You could say the specialists have had access to this information before - they can't say they didn't know - but still the response is not what it should be. So it seems to me that we need a more interdisciplinary approach, a more creative response, and that is where I think the IBC can take matters forward."

Last Modified: November 29, 2002