| الوصف: |
Yemen’s health-care system has witnessed improvements since 1990; however, these improvements are disappointing when compared with successes achieved by neighbouring Gulf countries. Women and child health is a chief concern requiring advance ment and effective intervention. Recent initiatives have been de veloped to target Millennium Developmental Goals 4 and 5, which buttress reduction in child mortality rates and improvement of maternal health. Among these initiatives, the National Midwifery Strategy led by the Ministry of Public Health and Population, the National Reproductive Health Strategy, and the CATALYST Consortium in partnership with USAID aimed at improving training of midwives, staff retention, and methods used in family planning and reproductive-health service delivery. However, present data show that these projects exhibit some challenges and have had limited success. Yemen has an infant death rate of 51 deaths per 1000 livebirths and a maternal mortality rate of 365 per 100 000 livebirths. At present, 22 women die every year because of poor maternal health facilities in Yemen, and 1 in 39 women die during childbirth. According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), although there has been a 61% decline in maternal mortality rate since 1990, maternal mortality is expected to rise in the future. This is, partly, due to the recent political and economic crises, which have affected mobility and resources, further hindering access to health care—particularly for women. It seems unlikely that Yemen will achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal with regard to the empowerment of women by 2015. The sociocultural and educational structure of Yemeni society seems to play an important part in hindering progress towards the above-mentioned goals. For example, the average cut off age for women’s education stands at a disturbing 7 years, and women’s literacy rate is an alarming 59·1%. Moreover, from child marriages to unequal rights for divorce, custody, and inheritance within marriages, Yemeni society suff ers from marked discrimination against women. The future of Yemen’s women depends heavily on greater public awareness about wellbeing, increased and diverse access to health care, and equal educational and socioeconomic rights. Lawmakers and governmental organisations must recognise the threat posed by child marriages and unequal marital status not only for women and children’s health, but also at sociopsychological levels, and amend legal policies to combat these issues. Furthermore, it is crucial that projects targeting women’s empowerment and health care are placed under regular and rigorous surveillance and adjusted on the basis of analysis of gains and benefi ts to the community. International col laboration with neighbouring Gulf countries, in particular, is necessary to solve existing and impending concerns regarding women’s health in Yemen. |
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