Paragraphs 103 and 104 of the Beijing Platform for Action. Chapter IV. C. Women and Health
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/10/28
103. The quality of women’s health care is often deficient in various ways, depending on local circumstances. Women are frequently not treated with respect, nor are they guaranteed privacy and confidentiality, nor do they always receive full information about the options and services available. Furthermore, in some countries, over-medicating of women’s life events is common, leading to unnecessary surgical intervention and inappropriate medication.
104. Statistical data on health are often not systematically collected, disaggregated and analysed by age, sex and socio-economic status and by established demographic criteria used to serve the interests and solve the problems of subgroups, with particular emphasis on the vulnerable and marginalized and other relevant variables. Recent and reliable data on the mortality and morbidity of women and conditions and diseases particularly affecting women are not available in many countries. Relatively little is known about how social and economic factors affect the health of girls and women of all ages, about the provision of health services to girls and women and the patterns of their use of such services, and about the value of disease prevention and health promotion programmes for women. Subjects of importance to women’s health have not been adequately researched and women’s health research often lacks funding. Medical research, on heart disease, for example, and epidemiological studies in many countries are often based solely on men; they are not gender specific. Clinical trials involving women to establish basic information about dosage, side-effects and effectiveness of drugs, including contraceptives, are noticeably absent and do not always conform to ethical standards for research and testing. Many drug therapy protocols and other medical treatments and interventions administered to women are based on research on men without any investigation and adjustment for gender differences.
Beijing Declaration (1995)
Paragraphs 103 and 104 of the Beijing Declaration speak to the need to provide for women’s health needs with the specifics based on locale. In many contexts, as recognized by the first paragraph listed above, women lack basic respectful treatment.
This can come with a disrespect for their privacy and confidentiality. Even in the cases of women getting some modicum of information, the information will not necessarily be complete. This restricts women’s ability to make fully informed decisions about their lives.
This creates a problem with regards to the implementation of women’s rights. Now, the lack of provisions in healthcare can even extend into the realm of surgical intervention, but the ones there are not needed at all.
It is this tied to inappropriate medication. In Canadian medicine, there is a movement or a phrase, “Too much medicine.” These may be, at times, indicative of too much medicine or simply over-reacting to women’s needs and then doing too much in terms of medical interventions.
But looking further into the statistical data on health, there is a field called Evidence-Based Medicine, mostly by the late Dave Sackett and Distinguished Professor Gordon Guyatt, with a focus on systematic review of the evidence.
The main purpose of the EBM methodology is to provide a robust means by which to sift and select treatments best suited to the individuals; circa 1995, this methodology was simply coming online and not entirely formulated into its current form.
If a relevant analysis is done, the best interests of the poor, the rural, the marginalized, and the minority could be done. It is important to get the reliable data in order to make valid medical decisions for those who, typically, do not have the finances to afford high-quality health care relative to the advancement of medical technology in their particular country.
The many conditions and diseases that many women face may be comorbid with a bunch of others. This can create a situation in which are some diseases or conditions occur with others, thus blurring the lines.
The social and economic conditions of a woman can create a problem for the women, and the girls for that matter, in many regions of the world. Because of the lack of acknowledgement of women’s health problems, or other their particular health issues, which, many, can be unique to them.
The gendered perspective on health is incredibly important for the advancement and empowerment of women because the basis of living as high a quality of life as is possible to attain requires proper medical care and the knowledge of the medical professionals about the specific health problems that women can face, which men do not, or at higher rates than men, e.g., osteoporosis, breast cancer, and so on.
With the emphasis on clinical trials, this can be an important addition to the medical literature as to the differentials in the health outcomes for men and women given particular treatments at specific points in the treatment timeline and so on.
Thus, the gendered perspective has been and will continue to be important in the treatment of men and women, boys and girls, in as robust a manner as possible.
So it goes.
–One can find similar statements in other documents, conventions, declarations and so on, with the subsequent statements of equality or women’s rights:
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2).
- Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) in Article 1.
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in Article 3, Article 7, and Article 13.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (1993).
- Beijing Declaration(1995).
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000).
- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000).
- The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa or the “Maputo Protocol” (2003).
- Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence or the Istanbul Convention (2011) Article 38 and Article 39.
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