Women and Health Good health and well-being continue to elude the majority of the world's women. Throughout their life cycle, women in many countries have unequal access to basic health resources.
Girls often receive less attention than boys in the prevention and treatment of childhood diseases.
In adolescence and throughout their reproductive years, women lack adequate counselling and access to sexual and reproductive health services. The result is an increased risk of unwanted and early pregnancy, HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as unsafe abortions and complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Women's right to the highest standard of physical and mental health was recognized by the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. The Platform for Action, adopted by the Conference, highlighted the need to ensure universal access to appropriate, affordable and quality health care and services for women and girls as one of the 12 critical areas of concern requiring urgent attention by governments and the international community. During its forty-third session in 1999, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women proposed further action to be taken to improve the quality of women's health, including the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all policies and programmes in the health sector.