Women’s Health

Factsheet

Key Facts

• Worldwide, women live an average four years longer than men.
• In 2011, women's life expectancy at birth was more than 80 years in 46 countries, but only 58 years in the WHO African Region.
• Girls are far more likely than boys to suffer sexual abuse.
• Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls in high- and upper-middle-income countries.
• Almost all (99%) of the approximate 287 000 maternal deaths every year occur in developing countries.
• Globally, cardiovascular disease, often thought to be a "male" problem, is the number one killer of women.
• Breast cancer is the leading cancer killer among women aged 20–59 years worldwide.

Gender inequity, poverty among women, weak economic capacity, sexual and gender-based violence including female genital mutilation (FGM) are major impediments to the amelioration of women's health in the African Region. To ensure that women and men have equal access to the necessary opportunities to achieve their full health potential and health equity, the health sector and the community need to recognize that women and men differ in terms of both sex and gender. Because of social (gender) and biological (sex) differences, women and men experience different health risks, health-seeking behaviour, health outcomes and responses from health systems.

Furthermore, gender social stratifications have resulted in unequal benefits among various social groups of women and men as well as between women and men. Hence, continued support to Member States to roll out the Women's health strategy and its resolution, and integrating gender into health policies and programmes have been the major achievements.

Women in the African Region are more likely to die from communicable diseases (e.g. HIV, tuberculosis and malaria), maternal and perinatal conditions, and nutritional deficiencies, than women in other regions. Globally, about 468 million women aged 15–49 years (30% of all women) are thought to be anaemic, at least half because of iron deficiency and most of these anaemic women live in Africa (48–57%).

It’s reported that 1 in 4 deaths among adult women are caused by NCDs such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Tobacco is a leading risk factor for NCDs and its use is increasing among young women in the Region.