Latest news

Parliamentarians for Women’s Health in Botswana has convened a legal policy group to identify priority legislative areas toward improving women’s health in Botswana, particularly women affected and infected with HIV and AIDS. The group will:

• Review and comment on the legal audit of legislation that has direct relevance to women’s health in Botswana;
• Review and comment on policy gaps based on a policy analysis of women’s access to health care in Botswana;
• Assist in identifying the obstacles that hinder women’s access to health care services in Botswana;
• Share information and experiences in their respective capacities with regard to access to health care services for women; and
• Develop a plan for legislative action by making recommendations to members of parliament to improve access to health care for women and lobby for increased budgetary allocations for women’s health.

For more information, read the Botswana legal background brief.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports efforts to strengthen HIV prevention as part of a comprehensive response that includes care and treatment. In particular, it supports projects that have the potential to provide the greatest benefit for the most people over the longest period of time. Parliamentarians for Women’s Health is made possible by a three-year $3.4 million grant from the foundation.

Parliamentarians for Women’s Health Launches Web Site

WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 16, 2006 – Parliamentarians for Women’s Health – a groundbreaking initiative in East and southern Africa that works with parliamentarians and communities to improve women’s and girls’ access to health services – today launched its new Web site, an essential resource for program staff, researchers, donors, students and others working in the field of international development.

Welcome to the Parliamentarians for Women’s Health Web Site!
Parliamentarians for Women’s Health is a groundbreaking initiative in East and southern Africa that works with parliamentarians and communities to improve women’s and girls’ access to health services. We’ve launched this Web site to provide up-to-date information on the project’s activities, background information on the four countries involved – Botswana, Kenya, Namibia and Tanzania; and shared stories of women and communities affected by HIV and AIDS who are involved in the project.

We hope it will become a useful resource for program staff, researchers, donors, students and others working in the field of international development.

Read the press release.

My name is Erykah. I am 31 years old and live in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sometime in 2001, I experienced some changes in my physiological health. As a young woman, I thought that I was lucky to have a small waistline and body size. But I also noticed that the acne that suddenly appeared on my face was appearing quite late for my age. Both of these things turned out to be something else all together.

Coming soon

• International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
  
• Centre for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria (CSA)
• International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW)
• Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI)

The expert advisory council is a distinguished group of leaders from East Africa and southern Africa who have political experience and/or technical knowledge on women’s health.

Parliamentarians for Women’s Health is a groundbreaking initiative in East and southern Africa to strengthen parliamentarians’ efforts to improve women’s and girls’ access to health services, specifically HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention, care and counseling.

Why women's health?

• HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other diseases continue to devastate countries in many parts of Africa and worldwide.
• In many parts of Africa, women’s and girls’ health needs are woefully underserved, especially when it comes to prevention and care of HIV and AIDS: Nearly 60 percent of women in sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV.
• Current efforts to increase women’s and girls’ access to health services are falling short of these immediate needs.
• Underlying economic, political, social and cultural constraints continue to impede women’s and girls’ access to health services.

Parliamentarians for Women’s Health is a leadership initiative developed around the idea that if leaders have accurate and timely information related to women’s health – specifically HIV and AIDS – and are connected with HIV/AIDS community networks, especially those in their respective countries, then these leaders will be better poised to take action and make decisions that improve women’s access to health services.

Political will and leadership are fundamental to improving women’s access to health services. Efforts to increase women’s access to health services have fallen short in many developing countries because of underlying economic, political, social and cultural constraints. Parliamentarians are well-placed to promote gender sensitive health policies, whether through legislative mandates, acting as public role models and spokespersons for gender equality and public openness about HIV and AIDS, or supporting development of a sustainable national health infrastructure.

AIDS has spread rapidly across Tanzania and is one of the most significant challenges facing this nation today. At the end of 2003, 1.6 million of Tanzania’s 36.9 million people were living with HIV and AIDS, and more than half—840,000—were women. Even more devastating, approximately 60 percent of new HIV infections are occurring among Tanzania’s youth, particularly its young women. Largely because of the high prevalence of AIDS, population growth rates have dropped from 3.0 percent to 1.4 percent, and life expectancy is now estimated at 46 years.

Among Kenya’s total population of 32.7 million, more than a million people are living with HIV and AIDS. Despite recent declines in HIV prevalence rates in Kenya, women bear a disproportionate burden of the disease, comprising 60 percent of people living with HIV and AIDS. Women are largely marginalized in Kenya, and the country’s efforts to combat the pandemic have failed to address women’s issues such as treatment of HIV-positive widows, property rights and domestic violence, all of which contribute to the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Namibia is one of the top five AIDS-affected countries in the world. And women bear the greater burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Among Namibia’s population of 2 million, more than half of the estimated 210,000 living with HIV and AIDS are women. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Namibia is made worse by attitudes toward women and girls. Violence against women is pervasive in Namibia, and women continue to face barriers in accessing education, income and health care.

Library

Mission
The project seeks to expand a group of 20 parliamentarians’ (approximately five per country) skills and knowledge on women’s health through technical assistance and expanded networks with communities, including groups of women living with HIV and AIDS.