European perspectives on global health: a policy glossary

5. Europe must act now for global health
Poverty is known to be a strong determinant of
poor health and premature death. Poverty among
marginalised people, among whom many are women,
has worsened under globalisation. Market and trade
liberalisation have resulted in feminisation of poverty
( 70 % of the world’s poor are women ), reduced
the public provision of care, leading to worsened
women’s development, and increased the care burden.
Thus, women’s health cannot be improved without
strategies that specifically reduce poverty. Globally,
leading causes of women’s death include : HIV / AIDS,
pregnancy, and childbirth, malaria and tuberculosis,
which all mainly affect poor women. The HIV / AIDS
pandemic in particular has eroded traditional family
and social support mechanisms, which has worsened
women’s development and health.
The Millennium Development Goals are regarded
as a potentially powerful policy tool to further the
agenda of gender equality and women’s human
rights. The MDGs have however been criticised for not
complying with the broader Millennium Declaration
and for neglecting women’s sexual and reproductive
rights. The Millennium Declaration affirms the
importance of gender equality and women’s human
rights, as well as the need to combat all forms of
violence against women and to implement the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women ( CEDAW ).
Thus the MDGs are unlikely to be reached unless the
concerns of gender inequality and discrimination
against women are addressed by every aspect of
the MDGs, not just a few specific goals focusing on
women.
Gendered violence is another important
determinant of women’s health requiring global
attention and a strategy. For example, forced sex
and unwillingness to use condoms make women
more vulnerable to HIV and other infections.
Furthermore, while the pharmaceutical development
of antiretroviral therapy ( ART ) has contributed to a
substantial reduction of mother-child transmission
risks, doses of ART are available to a small number of
women and are too expensive for many in low-income
countries.
Human trafficking and smuggling are a major form of
people movement today. At the world level, estimates
reach as high as 700,000 women and children being
Global Health Policy Glossary
moved across international borders by trafficking rings
each year. In particular, there is great concern about
the increase in the numbers of women and children
trafficked into the EU from Central and Eastern
<strong>European</strong> countries, partly due to the worsening of the
economic situation in these countries. The trafficked
are usually expected to engage in forced domestic
labour, sex work, false marriages, and indentured
labour. Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual
exploitation has increased in recent years, which is
associated with the development of the sex industry.
At the <strong>European</strong> level there are no reliable statistics.
Since 1996, the EU has been actively engaged in
developing a comprehensive and multidisciplinary
approach towards the prevention of and fight against
trafficking in human beings involving all relevant
actors in society. In 1997, the DAPHNE Initiative was
launched to combat violence against children, young
people and women. Since the Amsterdam Treaty came
into force in May 1999, the EU’s actions to combat
trafficking in human beings are explicitly mentioned
under Title VI.
Women’s health has substantial implications for
economic development and growth. There is evidence
from various studies that women’s well-being and
literacy boosts economic growth and improves
population health. Women are custodians of the
health of family members and community and play
an important role in sustaining good health and
well-being for the communities in which they live.
Their informal contribution to care is unpaid and
unrecognised in all parts of the world, in spite of the
fact that women’s unpaid contribution is estimated
to contribute to almost 30 % of the world’s Gross
Domestic Product ( GDP ). This is in addition to their
contribution to subsistence agriculture and other
informal sector activities.
Thus women’s access to basic economic resources,
health care services, family planning that are needed
for their health should be considered as a basic human
right. Yet because of limited access to education and
employment, strategies towards health improvements
are difficult to achieve and improvements in
women’s health that were achieved due to increased
international visibility and political commitment have
been threatened by the HIV / AIDS pandemic not only
in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, but also in many
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