International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics August 1994 [antikvár]

GYNECOLOGY OBSTETRICSInternational Journal of Gynecology Obstetrics 46 (1994) 101-104EditorialThe one hundred milhon missing females are dead: Let ithappen never againM.F. FathallaAssiut, EgyptProfessor Mahmoud F. Fathalla,President-Elect, International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) presents this World Report on Women's Health on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. It is not a report on the advances in science that have been made. It is not a report about the achievements of the profession in raising the standards of healthcare for women. It is a report to point the way to the future, to highlight the needs and the challenges, rather than to reflect on the past. The thrust of the message of the reportis that future improvements in women's health will need more than the science and the healthcare profession. It needs societal action that has for long been overdue, to correct injustices to women.The report is compiled by an outstanding group of 22 contributors from all regions of the world, a mix of women and men, obstetrician-gynecologists and advocates of women's health from other disciplines. The report does not look at diseases of organs; it looks at issues in the health of the woman from infancy to advanced age, and it emphasizes both the social and biological dimensions of women's health.The additional noble task of reproducing the species given to females has been rewarded by Nature in a biological advantage, making the female a better survivor than males at all stages of the life cycle, from intrauterine life to old age. But it has not brought societal rewards to women. On the contrary, it has often led to their subordination and, worse, to gender discrimination practices that, among other consequences, have an adverse impact on their health.Where women are undervalued, and particularly where resources are scarce, societies will not allocate the necessary resources needed for women's health. The biological advantage of being a female will then be eroded or even reversed by the social disadvantage of being female.0020-7292/94/$07.00 1994 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics SSDI 0020-7292(94)02162-R