Médecins Sans Frontières - Women's Health, meeting the challenge together (ENGLISH)

Unique Identifier Code / URN MSB127518

Date taken / Date Recorded 03/06/2022 7:54 AM

Country Unspecified Country

Commissioning section MSF-SWITZERLAND

Copyright MSF

Usage Rights (MSF) Internal Use Only

Formal Consent Copy available no

Editor's rating ★★★ (F)

Video format h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661)

Duration 10m19s

Maximum Size 1920px × 1080px 669.93 MB

Additional Information / Shotlist Women's health, meeting the challenge together

Although women’s health is often neglected in communities, together with children, they are the most frequent patients in MSF waiting rooms. Our teams are working to give them tools to regain control over their health.

TITLE: Giving life
Antenatal and postnatal care, and safe deliveries (pas besoin de noter ça)
800 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. One third of deliveries worldwide involve complications, 15% of which can be fatal if not treated urgently. Being able to give birth in a medical facility run by trained staff is therefore essential. That’s why, from Honduras to Iraq and South Sudan, most MSF projects have a sexual and reproductive health component.

MSB122037 [03:58 – 04:17] Iraq
In Iraq, at Nablus maternity hospital, for example, 800 babies are delivered each month. That reflects the huge needs of Mosul's female population. 
From training traditional birth attendants to detect complications, to organising ambulance transfers and arranging check-ups before and after the birth, our midwives and nurses support women through all stages of becoming a mother.

Access to contraception and safe abortion (pas besoin de noter ça)
Pregnancies that are too close together can be dangerous, so women need to have access to contraception and safe abortion. Although this subject is difficult to address in some contexts where MSF works, studies have shown that offering contraception can reduce maternal mortality by 30%. Our teams offer birth control pills, implants, intra uterine device and injectable contraceptives, and patients can choose the method that suits them best. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the teams offer women the option of using Sayana Press contraception, which is self-injectable, allowing them to administer their own injections over a few months.

Although it is still restricted by legislation in many countries, safe abortion care is a medical necessity. In most cases, women with unwanted pregnancies will resort to unsafe abortion methods because they don’t have other alternatives.

TITLE: Protecting yourself and getting screened
In many societies, women are considered responsible for the transmission of viruses, and are often heavily stigmatized. We implement innovative models of care and support initiatives so that all women can protect themselves and minimize the risks of infection.

Today, thanks to treatment, mother-to-child transmission of HIV is limited, especially during childbirth or breastfeeding. If the treatment is not interrupted, life can continue as normal. MSF has introduced a model of care for HIV-positive patients which is led by peer educators who are themselves living on antiretroviral therapy. They provide daily or weekly individual or group sessions of psychological support that contribute to the success of the medical treatment.

Breast and cervical cancer (pas besoin de noter ça)
To address the increase in female cancer cases over the past 20 years, MSF recently started activities in Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Honduras, Zimbabwe and Mali to raise awareness and screen women for breast and cervical cancer.

MSB121109 [01:28 – 02:13] Mali
In Bamako, Mali, to mark International Women’s Day, the MSF teams organized a breast and cervical cancer awareness-raising and screening campaign.

MSF306101 [00:33 – 00:54] Honduras
Similarly, in Honduras, cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality, according to the World Health Organization. That’s why, in our project in Choloma, in the north of the country, our teams offer screening and prevention through vaccination against human papillomaviruses, which affect cells and can cause cervical cancer.

TITLE: Supporting one another and overcoming trauma
In crisis situations, women – as well as men and children – face not only violence related to conflict, but also sexual and social violence, exclusion, and are exposed to a range of health risks. This is the case in Kenya, where our teams provide specific care to adolescents and young people affected by social violence who are excluded from the health care system. In Mozambique, female sex workers are particularly exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, which is why the MSF teams are constantly working to develop solutions to meet their needs. 
Sexual violence and peer support (pas besoin de mentionner)

To help victims of sexual violence, our teams offer a space of trust and confidentiality, as it can be tough to talk about this kind of trauma. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Honduras, Iraq and the refugee camps in Greece, women who choose to come forward have access to places where they can talk in confidence and are supported by a care team. The step it takes to seek care requires great courage.

Conclusion
Preventing sexual violence, giving women the opportunity to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy and making sure women's health isn’t the lowest priority in a family requires long-term work. This is what our teams are undertaking with the communities in all MSF projects around the world. There’s great potential to develop quality, patient-centered care for women and girls through self-care approaches that will always be combined with care provided by professionals. We are ready to rise to this challenge together so that the patients have everything they need to shape their future!