Checklist
for women’s health and equity
Accountability
and Implementation: Questions to Ask
A list of questions set out by
the NGO, international women's rights action watch, which provides a useful
guide to assist researchers and advocates in assessing states' compliance with
their CEDAW obligations to ensure rights to equitable health care.
l. What measures have been taken
to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care?
2. Do women have the same
access as men to health care services?
3. Is medical care for women
during pregnancy and in the post-natal period free of charge?
4. Does the State seek to
ensure that women receive adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation? If
so, in what ways?
5. What health facilities and
personnel are available for women? This could include hospitals, clinics,
health posts, and other facilities as well as physicians, nurses, auxiliary
health personnel, family planning workers, and community agents. Are there any
health facilities and personnel dedicated to the health needs of women?
6. What are major causes of
female mortality and morbidity?
7. What is the maternal
mortality rate?
8. What are the infant and
child mortality rates for boys and for girls? What are the major causes of
infant and child mortality and mortality for girls? What are the major causes
of infant and child mortality and morbidity for boys?
9. What is the average life
expectancy for men and women?
10. What are the crude birth
rates and crude death rates for men and women?
11. What percentage of women
receive prenatal care?
12. What is the average
number of live births per woman?
13. What is the unmet need
for contraception?
14. What is the prevalence of
contraception, by method?
15. What legal or cultural
obstacles are there to women receiving health care services including family
planning?
16. How many women work in the
health sector? In what areas of the health sector do they work? At what level
of seniority in these areas do they work?
17. Does the country have
traditional health workers? If so, what do they do? How many traditional health
workers are women?
18. Is the husband's
authorisation required, either by law or in practice, before a married woman
can receive health services including family planning?
19. Does the State have any
laws or policies that require use of family planning measures? If so, are there
any consequences, such as financial penalties, where these laws or policies are
not complied with?
20. Is abortion legal? If so,
under what circumstances? Is the cost of abortions covered under national
medical insurance or social security? Can poor women receive free or subsidised
abortions? If abortions is legal, how available are services in practice?
21. Is pre-natal foetal
testing available? If so, what is the incidence of abortion following pre-natal
testing? If there is incidence of abortion following pre-natal testing, what
are the major reason for such abortions?
22. Does the State have any
laws or policies requiring abortion? If there are such laws or policies, are
the wishes of the mother taken into consideration when determining whether an
abortion should take place?
23. If abortion is not legal,
is it performed anyway? What statistics are available for death and/or illness
due to or related to abortion? What provisions are made for care of women with
incomplete abortions?
24. Is elective sterilisation
available? If so, what is the incidence of elective sterilisation for women?
For men?
25. Does the State have any
laws or policies requiring sterilisation? What sanctions exist for failure to
comply with these laws or policies?
26. Is female genital
mutilation or circumcision practised? If yes, under what circumstances? Is it
legal?
27. Do any groups in the
country perpetuate practice (for example, dietary restrictions for pregnant
women) that might be harmful to women's health? If so, what measures have been
introduced to eradicate such practices?
28. What measures have been
introduced in the country to increase public awareness of the risk and effects
sexually transmitted diseases, particularly, HIV/AIDS? Have any if these
measures been aimed specifically at women and girls?
29. Have any programmes been
introduced to combat sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS? If
so, are any of these programmes dedicated to women and girls? Do any of these programmes
pay particular attention to women's reproductive role and female subordination
as factors that make women and girls vulnerable to sexually transmitted
diseases, particularly, HIV/AIDS?
30. What measures have been
introduced to ensure the participation of women as health care workers in the
context of HIV/AIDS?
Source:
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC)