By PROFESSOR KASONDE –

Last week on March 8, was Women’s Day.
It is so difficult to get people to read anything including the newspaper and so I kicked myself for not using the occasion to my advantage.
I hope that the event is not so distant for me to discuss it this week.
In the 1970s and 1980s when I was growing up men liked to put women in their place. This place was the kitchen.
Like children, women were meant to be admired for their beauty but not to be heard.
In fact if I recall there was nothing like Women’s Day in Zambia, then. It would have been considered an affront to masculine authority.
I remember being surprised to hear in the Second Republic the first lady then,Vera Chiluba speak in public.
I held my heart in surprise. My knowledge thus far had been that first ladies do not speak in public, and they discredit themselves and their husbands by doing so.
In contrast to this it’s nice to see how politicians lined up last week to praise women.
I am not sure it this was not mere lip service, even if it was though, it is a significant change.
I recall distinctly that my mum told me when I was only a few years old that my middle name was “Kaunda”, she explained that this was her grandmother’s name.
She added that her grandmother had been so frustrated by the treatment of women that she had expressed the desire in her next life to come back as a man.
In keeping with African religious belief systems of the time, renaming facilitated re-incarnation.
It is well known that women have more interest in health than men do.
You need only to compare the articles in women’s magazines to those in men’s magazine to prove this.
Worldwide women therefore, live longer than men by at least by 5 to 10 years.
So, I want to address the subject of Women’s Health this week.
1.What are the key health risks for women in Zambia?
2. What causes these health challenges?
3.What can women do to address these  health risks?
1.What  are the key health risks for women in Zambia?
There at least 3 things that pose a risk to Women’s Health in Zambia.
They may be many more but in my experience they are 3 that stand most prominently. These are
1.HIV disease and STIs
2.Pregnancy and Domestic violence
3.Cervical and Breast Cancer
These 3 health issues pose the greatest risk to women in Zambia, and I will give my reasons for selecting these three.
First of all the single most common disease in Zambia is malaria.
According to the Ministry of Health statistics the most common cause of ill health in Zambia is malaria, it is 100 times more common than HIV infection.
The most common at risk people are pregnant women, and children under 5 years old.
Aside from malaria, the event of pregnancy poses one of the leading causes of death in women of child bearing age, not only in Zambia but in Africa.
The maternal mortalities in Zambia though in decline are some of the highest in the world. What compounds this, is the issue of domestic violence. According to health statistics Zambia has one of the highest levels of domestic violence in the region.
It is reported that up to 47 per cent of women between 15 to 49 years have been the victims of domestic violence.
HIV has been called a female disease.
This is because it is much easier for women to get the disease then it is for men.
The reasons for this are first of all biological. The female surface area of the female private area (the vagina), where the virus enters the body is much wider than the male private part which is mostly the inner lining of the foreskin on the male part (the penis).
The second is social cultural, because it is common for men to have multiple partners. While it is less common and socially less acceptable for women to have multiple partners.
In fact polygamy is an acceptable tradition among some tribes in Zambia.
The current HIV prevalence in women is 15 per cent compared to 11 per cent in men.
The women most at risk of HIV are surprisingly the most educated, employed women with high income.
Cervical cancer (cancer of the neck of the womb)is the leading cancer of all cancers in Zambia. It makes up over 25 per cent of cancers reported in Zambia. Zambia is one of the leading countries with cervical cancer in the world.
This disease is directly linked to HIV, being caused by the cousin virus HPV (Human Papilloma Virus).
2. What causes these health challenges for women?
It would be gratifying to give the answer rather glibly in one word as “men”. I am sure if I did that I would be denigrated and probably wrong as well.
These health risks for women are caused by several factors of which men do play some role, but are not the only factor. There at least 3 factors that pose this health risk to women as listed below;
1.Men
2.Women
3.Life
The relationship or selection of a suitable male partner is certainly one of the key health risks a women faces.
In making a good choice of a male partner she can certainly reduce her health risks.
Since evidently it is the male partner who will put her at risk of all the diseases highlighted earlier.
The other health risk is women themselves, their greatest strength is also their greatest weakness.
It is by constitution that women have a desire to nurture or to bring about life.
To see this you need only observe woman’s behaviour, when they are expecting a baby.
This innate nature makes them to sacrifice for their children and spouses.
In this process they often consider their own welfare least of all.
Therefore, they may stay in a bad relationships for the sake of their children and expose themselves to health risks.
Life itself places women in a vulnerable position because the gift of reproduction is also the main source of health risk.
Since the organs of reproduction are also the ones most at risk of disease and also the process of reproduction (pregnancy) is itself a source of risk to them. This notwithstanding it may be worth noting that men have their fair share  of health risks too.
3. What can women do to address these health challenges?
There are a few things that women can do to reduce their health risk, the first of which is to know about them.
If one considers that this seems an obvious solution. It may surprise many to know that the literacy rates  in Zambia are low for women.
The male rates are about 73 per cent compared to their female counterparts of about 60 per cent.
Most women only get information from their social network of friends, relatives and neighbours.
For women one of the key threat is the selection of a suitable partner.
This is the area of the “banachimbusha”, however all that can be said by me is that a women should  select a partner that they know well, who has a good health seeking behaviour. If I was to advise my daughter, I would say  encourage your partner to be circumcised for the sake of your good health.
With regard to pregnancy the safest age to conceive is the period between 25 and 35 years.
This is the time when the female body is physically at its peak and can endure well the rigours of pregnancy.
It is also the time when the females eggs are at their healthiest and the child is likely to be born safely and healthy.
It is also wise to start antenatal visits early and to do them regularly in order to have the health risks of pregnancy detected and resolved early.
Regular HIV testing is important before  and during marriage.
If possible do HIV testing as a couple regularly.
This allows for a safe lifestyle and early care and treatment if necessary.
It also protects your children.
It is reasonable to limit the number of children, this reduces the risk of cervical cancer.
Encourage your daughters to have HPV vaccinations if this is available in your area and have yourself screened at your local clinic for cancer of the cervix.
Do a pap smear to screen for cervical cancer, when you are over 30 years of age.
Do regular breast self-examination to detect early any lumps in the breast.