Khalid Shaikh’s Post

India's fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-21) confirms progressive increase in the use of reversible contraceptive options, including hormonal pills, injections and intra-uterine devices. Over time, many of these are known to trigger menstrual changes. Research shows that contraceptive-induced menstrual changes (CIMCs) affect user satisfaction and influence decisions to continue or switch methods. So how do women perceive and deal with these changes? Do they prefer maintaining a monthly menstrual cycle or do they find scanty or no menses to be a welcome break from the bother of monthly bleeding? Read about this in our recent blog published in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. https://lnkd.in/dTPUz_9t

🌸 Closing the Gaps in Women's Health: A Call to Action 🌸 Despite significant advances in healthcare, there are still considerable gaps that need urgent attention. Flat6Labs in partnership with Organon META (Middle East, Turkey & Africa) are pushing innovation in the right direction with regards to women's health with their recent Women's Health Accelerator program. Their informative workshops have highlighted key areas where we need to focus our efforts: 🌸 Reproductive Health: Access to comprehensive reproductive health services, including family planning/IVF, prenatal care, and safe childbirth, is still lacking in many parts of the world. We must ensure every woman has the resources and support she needs for her reproductive health journey. Thank you Dr.Faysal El Kak, Dr Nouf Behzad, Sarah Hariz and Dr Hazem Al-Rumaih for your sessions. 🌸 Mental Health: Advances in awareness around Mental Health have definitely helped the cause and there are great campaigns out there breaking down stigmas and barriers. That being said there is still much work to do to create safe, supportive environments for women to receive the care they need. 🌸 Chronic Diseases: Conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis disproportionately affect women. Research and resources must be directed towards understanding how these diseases manifest differently in women and developing targeted treatment options. 🌸 Menstrual Health: Menstrual health is still a taboo subject in many cultures, leading to a lack of education and resources. We need to break the stigma, educate young women about menstrual health, and ensure access to necessary products. 🌸 Healthcare Access: In many regions, women face significant barriers to accessing healthcare due to economic, social, and cultural factors. We must work towards removing these barriers and ensuring equitable access to healthcare for all women. As we strive for a more inclusive and equitable healthcare system, it's crucial to listen to women, understand their unique health needs, and advocate for changes that will close these gaps. Let's work together to empower women and improve their health outcomes. 💪👩⚕️💜 Nour Hossam Aly Islam Bassel Deraz Chanda Lokendra Kundnaney #WomensHealth #Healthcare #HealthEquity #MentalHealth #ReproductiveHealth #ChronicDiseases #MenstrualHealth #EmpowerWomen #HealthAdvocacy #Femtech #Femalefounder

Empowering Adolescents: Urgent Efforts Needed to Boost Disha Clinics, an Innovative Health Initiative by the Delhi Government (Views are Personal) As a development professional, I recognize that being confined to my office can divert my focus from the primary goal of my work in this sector, a sentiment shared by many. Being field-oriented, my motivation stems from interacting with people. Recently, I visited an impoverished urban community near Sarai Rohila Station in Delhi, engaging with two groups of women and girls aged 12 to 35. Our discussions centered around menstruation, exposing widespread misinformation and myths about menstrual hygiene, such as avoiding bathing during the first two days or refraining from religious activities. Notably, younger girls displayed practical knowledge and a keenness to learn new methods for maintaining menstrual hygiene. Despite the lack of low-cost sanitary pads in their community, some girls occasionally receive pads from their schools, though insufficient in quantity. The community, predominantly migrants in poor, non-permanent settlements, faces neglect, particularly regarding women and girls' reproductive and sexual health. Out of the 30 women and girls I met, signs of severe anemia were evident. One pregnant woman disclosed a hemoglobin level of six, a significant health concern. Despite government initiatives like distributing iron and folic acid tablets and implementing the Mid-day Meal program, challenges in effective execution persist. The Disha Clinic, an innovative approach by the Delhi State government under the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) aimed at adolescent health, struggles to reach its population. Limited awareness and underutilization of DISHA clinics among adolescents in Delhi are pressing issues. Addressing this requires focused efforts on raising awareness, improving accessibility, and promoting utilization of DISHA clinics to enhance overall adolescent health. Challenges include insufficient promotion, lack of awareness, inadequate collaboration with educational institutions and community organizations, and taboos hindering open discussions. Additionally, a lack of comprehensive training and sensitization of healthcare providers, along with financial constraints, hampers effective service delivery at DISHA clinics. Tackling these challenges is crucial to ensuring the success of Disha Clinics in meeting the health needs of adolescents in Delhi." #menstruationmatters #Menstruationhygiene #adolescenthealth #Adolescenthealthpolicy #RKSK #DISHAClinics #DelhiGovernment #urbanhealth #migrants #MigrantsHealth

India's fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-21) confirms progressive increase in the use of reversible contraceptive options, including hormonal pills, injections and intra-uterine devices. Over time, many of these are known to trigger menstrual changes. Research shows that contraceptive-induced menstrual changes (CIMCs) affect user satisfaction and influence decisions to continue or switch methods. So how do women perceive and deal with these changes? Do they prefer maintaining a monthly menstrual cycle or do they find scanty or no menses to be a welcome break from the bother of monthly bleeding? Read about this in our recent blog published in Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters https://lnkd.in/dnXxSf2s

THIS. "African American fathers do not have a 'voice' in maternal health; the 'voice' of AA fathers in maternal health is silenced, muted, and marginalized. The 'voice' of AA fathers can be utilized to support AA women, to optimize the health AA women experience, to support maternal health crisis, and to alleviate the morbidity and mortality AA women experience." #MaternalHealthCrisis #BlackFathers #MaternalHealth https://lnkd.in/eZzz45xa

Introduction by Croakey: In responding to the recent Federal Budget, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) welcomed a range of investments in women’s health, including funding for chronic pelvic pain conditions, a review of Medical Benefits Schedule items to address gender-bias within the healthcare system, and training for rural and remote healthcare professionals on the insertion and removal of long-acting reversible contraceptives. The College also welcomed investments in the extension of sexual and reproductive telehealth items to support women accessing affordable abortion services, especially those in rural and remote areas, and investments in health and medical research, with women’s health identified as one of three key priority areas eligible to receive more funding for new research. The budget also pledged $12.5 million for free menstrual products in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In the article below, first published by The Conversation, Associate Professor Nina Lansbury and Minnie King, from the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland, explain the significance of this investment, and also why further action is needed to ensure menstrual health equity, or ‘period parity’ (terms that are preferred to ‘period poverty’, according to this cited reference).

Let’s BREAK THIS VICIOUS CYCLE!   As per NFHS – a quarter of women of reproductive age are undernourished. Undernourished girls have a greater likelihood of becoming undernourished mothers who in turn have a greater chance of giving birth to low birth weight babies, perpetuating an intergenerational cycle. The diet of women in India are often too poor to meet their nutritional needs.   Women’s health does matter, as it is our Nation’s Wealth!   An awareness program across India to drive the importance of Women Nutrition! an Initiative by apex women health team.

This is such an important topic as are many health issues that affect fertility and can severly impact daily life. From personal experience, talking to others and reading numerous articles, the facts remain that for many, being heard and receiving adequate and timely treatment remains an issue. Inequality in health care still exists. Endometriosis, fibroids, cysts, dysmenorrhoea etc can be crippling conditions and can lead to infertility yet for many 'women', they suffer in silence with treatment falling short. It's not 'just a period'! We need to be a strong collective voice to drive change and equality in health care services. From menstruation to menopause, the conversation needs to be normalised and support should be an absolute given!

GENDER-based DISPARITIES visible in Healthcare Ecosystem in India: 1)Gender Disparity in Health Access: According to NFHS-4 data, 62% of women receive antenatal care compared to 84% of men accessing healthcare services. 2)Maternal Mortality Rates: As per WHO, India contributes to 17% of global maternal deaths. 3)Nutritional Health Disparity: NFHS-5 indicates that 18.7% of women in age group 15-49 years have a BMI of less than 18.5. 4)Sex-Selective Practices: Gender-based discrimination extends to pre-birth stages. Despite legal prohibitions, sex-selective practices persist, leading to imbalanced sex ratios. 5)Limited Access to Reproductive Health System: According to a UN Report,75% of health infrastructure in India caters to the need of urban areas where only 27% of India’s population lives. 6)Underrepresentation in Decision making - The limited presence of women in leadership roles hinders the formulation of gender-sensitive policies. #genderjustice #womenhealth #upsc #genderequality

📅 Endometriosis Action Month is taking place in March. What Endometriosis facts you should know? Well to start with… 🔴 1 in 10 women and those assigned female of birth of reproductive age in the UK suffer from endometriosis. 🔴 10% of women world wide have endometriosis – that’s 176 million worldwide. 🔴 The prevalence of endometriosis in women with infertility be as high as to 30–50%. 🔴 Endometriosis is the second most common gynaecological condition in the UK. 🔴 Endometriosis affects 1.5 million women and those assigned female at birth, a similar number of those affected by diabetes. 🔴 On average it takes 8 years from onset of symptoms to get a diagnosis. 🔴 Endometriosis costs the UK economy £8.2bn a year in treatment, loss of work and healthcare costs. 🔴 The cause of endometriosis is unknown and there is no definite cure. During Endometriosis Action Month people all over the world can show their support for everyone affected by endometriosis. The month can help to educate, raise awareness and dispel myths whilst highlighting the real impact of living with endometriosis. 🖥️ To learn more about how your organisation can take part in Endometriosis Action Month, read our Awareness Page: https://hubs.ly/Q02kwQfD0 #Endometriosis #EndometriosisActionMonth #Inclusion #Diversity