Guest blog: Celebrating International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is celebrated across the world on 8 March. International Women’s Day 2015 highlights the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a historic roadmap signed by 189 governments 20 years ago that sets the agenda for realising women’s rights.

There have been many achievements since then, but many serious gaps remain. For example, according to the WHO, “a number of health and social factors combine to create a lower quality of life for women. Unequal access to information, care and basic health practices further increase the health risks for women. Discrimination on the basis of their sex leads to many health hazards for women, including physical and sexual violence, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, malaria and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Tobacco use is a growing threat among young women, and mortality rates during pregnancy and childbirth remain high in developing countries”.

As a public health professional, I have had the chance to work in confronting some of these challenges. I enjoy working with government officials, academia and Civil Society in helping to strengthen the access to and the rational use of quality, safe and efficacious medicines and to strengthen health systems, changing the focus from the medicine as such to the needs of the patient, family and community. This work has a bearing on gender equality, human rights and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

As a woman, spouse and mother, I have enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm of Romanians in celebrating International Women’s Day, where it is linked with the arrival of the Spring and with Mother’s Day making this celebration even more special, and one which resonates across the whole month of March.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the women in Romania working in civil society organisations, government, academia and the private sector, whose labours are contributing to closing the gender gap and to empowering not only women, but also changing the future of disadvantaged communities, improving access to health care, to an integrated family life, to education and to better professional opportunities.

Happy International Women’s Day!

#IWD2015

#Beijing20

By Adriana Ivama Brummell

Adriana is the spouse of the British Ambassador to Romania. She has a  PhD in History of Sciences, Public Health and Health Legislation and is a specialist in  International Health, Health Surveillance and Teaching Methodology. In her previous post, she worked for the Pan-American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) as Medicines and Health Technologies Advisor for the Caribbean.