We would like to share with you some of the actions taken around the world for the First International Day of Action for Health in 1988. The following is a much shortened version of the report given in the Women's Health Journal produced Isis International Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network. A report was also published by the Women's Network on Reproductive Rights (WGNRR). Further information about the Day of Action and the Campaign can be obtained from WGNRR or from Santiago office of Isis International.
Maternal Mortality was the focus chosen for the first International Day of Action for Women's Health. More than 100 groups and organizations from 45 countries took part in the campaign through the organization of events, promotion of the day in the media, participation in seminars, round table discussions, workshops, demonstrations and street theater, and numerous other activities. In many countries, the Campaign lasted more than one day. In several places it was decided to devote a year to the issue of Maternal Mortality.The Campaign showed the vitality of the international health movement. The following are just a small sample of the many activities that took place.
Latin America
Bolivia
The following are excerpts of an article by Magali Vega in Mujer/Fempress.
In Bolivia the celebration of Mother's Day this year coincided with the Day of Action for the Campaign Against Maternal Mortality. The Women's Information and Development Center (Centro de Informacion y Desarrollo de la Mujer, CIDEM), carried out several activities: they made statements in the morning papers calling upon all women to participate actively to prevent maternal mortality, emphasizing the necessity of raising global consciousness about why women are dying, and suggesting what should be done through education and the use of every means of communication. They held a press conference with 15 women, leaders of groups representing more or less 50 to 80 women, for the
alternative press. They presented their own messages, posters, pamphlets, and murals, which included a large wall collage of newspaper clippings which had been made by the different groups on the theme of "Women and Health".
Brazil
Brazilian feminists, especially in Rio de Janeiro, worked on the Campaign with great enthusiasm and commitment. Their activities were carried out with the cooperation of governmental health organizations and were able to reach national levels.
"Gerar a vida e florecer", (Create Life and Flourish) and "Mulher es Vida. Viva!" (Woman is Life, Long Live Woman!) were the slogans for the Campaign in Brazil. Several different posters were made using the slogans. One beautiful poster which used "Create Life and Flourish" was produced by the Special Commission on Reproductive Rights and the Legislative Assembly, with the assistance of the Social Development Office of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Another wonderful poster, using "Women is Life!" was produced by the Feminist Forum. This poster advertised a list of workshops, films, and debates which were planned for the day.
The following is from an article in Mujer Vol. No. 82, July 1988, by Fatima Vianna Mello, a correspondent of Fempress:
"Joining women from all over Brazil and around the world, the Feminist Forum and the Special Commission on Reproductive Rights of the Legislative Assembly sponsored a meeting. "Woman is Life, Long Live Women!" on the International Day of Action for Women's Health. Women from social movements, institutions, and professions related to health care were invited to collectively reflect on the problem of maternal mortality.
On May 28, these issues were discussed in a forum coordinated by the Global Network and the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network/Isis International. There were videos and panel discussions with doctors, feminists, and members of community groups. The meeting ended with a dramatization about faulty health care.
Declaring that woman should be able to exercise their right to give birth or to interrupt an unwanted pregnancy without risking their lives, feminists aimed to motivate others, especially health professionals, with the Campaign. According to Fernanda Carneiro, of the Feminist Forum of Rio, and one of the organizers of the Day of Action, "Our struggle had a special focus: to look for allies in the medical profession. We received total support from the President of the Council of Medicine, Dr. Laerte Vaz de Melo. It was the Council who judged the cases denounced by the witnesses in our dramatized trial at the end of our meeting. He himself helped with the printing and publication of our bulletin, 'Woman is Life'. Doctors also helped to sponsor a debate in the central hospital. There has been a real breakthrough which has enabled feminists working together with the community, and with health professionals, to search for practical solutions and a realistic health policy to care for life, which is a daily exercise for all citizens."
Colombia
Various groups held events and participated in panels and round tables in order to activate the Campaign. The Casa de la Mujer (Women's House) in Bogota sent the Women's Health Network the following letter;
Greetings from the Working Collective of the Casa de la Mujer. I've finally found time to tell you about our activities on the Day of Action, May 28th.
During the Campaign, the following activities took place:
In the Casa de la Mujer, a Forum was held on the 27th of May, and a meeting of women who work in women's health care took place on May 20th in the Casa de la Mujer. The program was as follows: The Forum on Women's health aimed to present the problems of women's health from different points of view, initiate alternatives and plans of action to help overcome maternal mortality.
Presentation of the booklet "Juana conoce su cuerpo" (Juana Gets to Know Her Body). This booklet, which is part of the series "Body, Health, and Sexuality" was produced by a group of women who conduct workshops on women's health in poorer neighborhoods of Bogota.
The Campaign did attract some attention in the press, but women's health is not considered newsworthy issue.
Women's groups responded to the Day of Action, and considering all of the difficulties that arose, the overall outcome was quite positive.
Mexico
The Mexican Ministry of Health, through its Women's Commission took part in the campaign to provide Mexican women with the information they need to prevent maternal mortality. The Commission participated in three radio and two nationally broadcast television programs. They distributed "Maternal Mortality, A Call to Women to Action" to the press, and encouraged participation in all the States of Mexico.
A special section in the newspaper Doble Jornada Ano 2, No. 15, May 13, 1988 was entirely devoted to the Campaign Against Maternal Mortality. Reporters from the Doble Jornada were on hand when the Union of Tenant Farmers for Land and Liberty (Union de Colonos Tierra y Libertad UCOTYL) organized an event for the Day of Action for Women's Health. Under a banner that said "Women Don't Cry, Speak Out", women held a forum denouncing the arbitrary conduct of doctors and their mistreatment of women. During the event, which took place in La Colonia Artes Graficas, women testified against mishandled labor, mistaken diagnosis, the dangers of abortion, the use of contraindicated medicines, and sterilization performed without the patient's consent. Problems that had appeared to be individual were found to be common and part of a pattern.
Dominican Republic
Along with the Centro Dominicano de Estudios de la Comunicacion (Dominican Communication Studies Center), we are working on the coordination of activities and events for the Day of Action. These are:
• a meeting on 19 April with feminist organizations, institutions and groups working in the field of health, in order to present and discuss the plan of action;
• two bulletins on maternal mortality and abortion;
• a seminar on mortality and abortion on May 24th;
• the making of a small poster;
• a supplement in a magazine which has national circulation;
• various workshops on maternal mortality with groups of urban poor and peasant women.
We wish you strength in the immense work that lies in front of us.
Colectivo Mujer y Salud, Apdo 20307, Santo Domingo CMA-Boletin
Peru
Peru was one of the countries where women's groups held many creative actions in different towns and cities. The following letter was sent by the Centro de Estudios Sociales y Publicaciones:
Warm greetings and many congratulations on your success in promoting the Day of Action. Our Women's Section has been involved in the campaign for the prevention of maternal mortality since it was initiated, and has been trying to promote a climate of opinion. Sharing coordination with different organizations in Comas, located north of Lima, we organized a week of campaigning. Our activities included:
• wide distribution of a leaflet produced for the campaign;
• an exhibition of murals in the local council building and regional hospital;
• discussion and training sessions with women's organizations, such as those of Vaso de Leche and Comedores Populares;
• a drawing contest related to the subject, with a subsequent exhibition and awarding of prizes;
• lastly, to close the week, a round table in which professionals as well as representatives of the regional Centrales of Vaso de Leche had the floor.
It is worth pointing out the positive and important results of this activity. The non-governmental organizations involved were committed and motivated to continue working in specific ways in the area of women's health. The working class women's organizations have redoubled their efforts and commitment to the struggle to improve their living conditions and to claim their right to health.
The following letter is from the Feminist Collective for Reproductive Rights:
Hurray for us and all women of the world! The Day of Action was a total success, and not only in Peru, but everywhere, wasn't it? This letter is to tell you about what happened in Lima.
The Collective for Reproductive Rights started the Campaign Against Maternal Mortality on March 8, as part of the Festival "Song of Life" which the feminist movement of Lima sponsors every year to celebrate International Women's Day. The Festival consisted of six hours of music, songs, theatre, book exhibitions, sale of handicrafts and actions by feminists. It takes place in the open air and each group has a tent. This year the Collective planned a demonstration about maternal mortality. In our tent we put up slogans, displayed the poster for May 28th, and distributed leaflets. We also invited the public to join us in the campaign.
From May 23-27, we held public demonstrations in front of several hospitals. These consisted of a two-hour parade with banners, distribution of leaflets inside and outside the hospitals, and talking with women patients, nurses, and doctors. Grupo de Accion Flora Tristan, Movimiento Manuela Ramos, Grujx) e Autoconciencia de Lesbianas Feministas, Circulo de Feministas Cristianas Talitha Cumi, Colectivo Ser Mujer en el Peru, Asociacion Aurora Vivar, and Colectivo Pandora participated.
On the 28th, along with other groups in the movement, the Collective organized a long procession to the main cemetery in memory of the thousands of women who have died due to the bad quaUty of care during childbirth or from complications of clandestine abortion. For two hours we walked in silence through the streets leading to the cemetery, carrying white flowers. The procession was led by a black funeral limousine, containing a coffin covered with wreaths of flowers. When it arrived at the cemetery some of the women carried the coffin on their shoulders and placed it on the raised platform where the funeral rites are usually read. Litanies referring to the situation of women's health were read and demands were made in unison.
During the week there were many radio interviews on at least 5 of Lima's radio stations. A lot of different women were invited to talk about the issue and explain the campaign.
The Collective edited an information packet of leaflets, with statistical data about mortality, abortion and health in general. We still have a radio campaign pending, consisting of short taped programs, to be transmitted by radio stations who are interested. We also plan to initiate a dialogue with women doctors and others.
There have been other activities of the women's movement. For instance the Instituto de Salud Popular organized a press conference to announce the results of their research on ten years of maternal mortality in Lima's maternity hospital. The Instituto also held a roundtable on contraception.
Owing to the impact of the campaign, the feminist movement of Peru agreed to establish May 28 as the annual date for a Day of Action for Women's Health.
Uruguay
Uruguay was one of the countries in Latin America that participated most actively in the Campaign Against Maternal Mortality. In the Mujer/Fempress. Carmen Tornaria wrote:
"Women in many countries mobilized on May 28th in response to the call of the organizers of the International Campaign Against Maternal Mortality. In Uruguay, hundreds of them came together to reflect for three days. Originating with an invitation from the Maria Abella Collective, which is a member of the Women's Health Network of Isis International, women's commissions from political parties, social organizations, unions and women's academies coordinated the Day of Action for Women's Health. Women filled the front, the halls and lobby of the Pereira Rossel Hospital, the main mother/infant health care center. There they received informative pamphlets and heard lectures and testimonies of personal experiences. In the Institute of Hygiene, which is part of the University, there were six workshops: Cancer and Women; Self-help and Prevention; Maternity, Pregnancy, Childbirth and Cesaerian; Women and Doctor-Patient Relationship; Abortion; Occupational Health; and Health and Lifestyle. Three hundred women participated.
The recently formed Uruguayan Women's Health Network issued a press release publicizing the campaign. In it, the Network criticized the Health System and its discrimination against women, and called for the prevention of maternal death. They also reported on research the Network had carried out on maternal mortality
Africa
Nigeria
A number of groups took part m the Day of Action in Nigeria. Women's groups in Benin City and Ibadan organized forums and publicized the Campaign. The West African Network of Social Scientists was especially active. In the state of Ziaria, they put up 200 posters and organized group discussions among experts, women students in the university's extension program, and with traditional birth attendants in villages where they are conducting an epidemiological survey. Publicity about the Day was carried by the state radio and planning is underway for a panel discussion on television.
In Sokoto State, the West African Network of Social Scientists organized two radio discussions on the health of pregnant women and listener response was so favorable that the radio station decided to run discussions on women's health throughout the following month. There was also a TV discussion with a nurse- midwife, a home economist, and a local women's leader. With a vehicle equipped with a public address system loaned by the government's Expanded Immunization Program, they distributed posters and gave health talks to villagers in all ten districts of Sokoto State.
In Lagos, the West African Social Scientists put up posters and set up booths in Mushin Market, one of the largest marketplaces in the capital. They gave out information and made referrals on screening for blood pressure and anaemia. Medical students as well as health education officers participated, and the students expressed an interest in continuing community activities as part of their training.
Senegal
In Senegal, the Association of African Women included information packets about maternal mortality in the mailing of their bi-lingual newsletter, and a health clinic organized a counseling session about the causes of maternal mortality on May 28th.
Somalia
The Women's Research and Documentation Unit initiated studies on the status of maternal mortality in Somalia and publicized the Day in the media.
Tanzania
The Tanzania Media Women's Association published an article in their magazine, Sauti Ya Siti which is written in Kiswahili, the national language. They also organized a forum with doctors and birth attendants which was later broadcast on the radio. The Kiswahili Song of the Traditional Midwives that explains what midwives do, and lists the danger signs that require immediate treatment in pregnancy, became very popular on the radio as a result of the campaign.
Uganda
The Women's Global Network on Reproductive Rights-Uganda Chapter organized a seminar at the Makerere University which was attended by Members of the Government, including the Minister of State for Women's Affairs; religious leaders; and representatives of the diplomatic community. Addresses by the Minister of Health and members of the medical community, as well as songs and poems by women's groups were part of the Day's activities.
ASIA
India
In the Tamil region in South India, the Day of Action was planned by the Rural Women's Social Education Centre who made posters, published an advertisement in the local Tamil language newspapers, and organized a meeting. One hundred women from 18 local villages attended. After group discussions and a lecture by a doctor about causes of maternal death, a play was presented which told the story of a 16 year old girl who died of hemorrhage after a prolonged labor when her in-laws were reluctant to take her to the hospital because they had no money.
The women decided to meet regularly every month, and plans are being made to reach more villages.
In Madras, seven women's groups got together to demonstrate in front of the General Hospital on May 28th. They carried signs with slogans about maternal deaths, and conditions in hospitals, and protested against the Copper T lUD, also insisting that the condom should be promoted. They sang women's liberation songs and performed a play about family planning camps. The demonstrators then marched to other hospitals in Madras, and the action received a lot of media attention. On May 31st, the Rural Women's Liberation Movement demonstrated in front of the Generiil Hospitals in the towns of Arakkonam and Tiruttani. Petitions to improve hospital care were sent to the State Governor and the State Medical Officers.
Indonesia
Several NGOs participated in the Day in Indonesia. Kalyanamitra Women's Communication and Information Center included the leaflet on maternal mortality in their regular mailing to 500 women and women's groups, and two of the groups who received the material organized activities on May 28lh. One, a women's development organization planned field visits to reach more local women. The other, an organization which runs women's health clinics in poor urban areas which are staffed by female doctors and midwives, planned a series of educational activities on May 28th at all other clinics.
Pakistan
Shirkat Gah, which coordinates the work of Women Living Under Muslim Law in Pakistan distributed information about the campaign to their network, and Simorgh, a research and publication center published an article in their annual journal. National Health held a panel discussion which was published in that magazine, and plan to continue to work on the issue of maternal mortality through their affiliated women's groups.
Philippines
Women in the Philippines were very active in the Campaign. In Quezon City, the Institute for Social Studies and Action and the Task Force Women and Health, held seminars, forums, and began work on a women's health training manual. They are also working with Legislative Advocates for Women to lobby in Congress for a population planning program and improved access to health care for urban poor and rural women.
In Mindanao, Women's Health Fairs were held in Davao City and Butuan City. The Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, the Nurses Association for Prenatal Care, the Medical Technologists Society for blood typing, and groups involved in acupressure, massage, reflexology, herbal remedies, lamaze childbirth education, AIDS education and health publishing were some of the participants in the Fairs. There was also a tapestry making contest for embroideries representing women's health conditions. At the end of the day there was a bonfire where placards, which had the causes for maternal death written on them, were burned.
In Manila, GABRIELA Commission on Women's Health sponsored a cultural forum entitled "Filipino Women's Health and Reproductive Rights: Neglected and Violated?" The Forum was part of the celebration of International Women's Day and helped launch the Campaign Against Maternal Mortality in the Philippines. The topics included testimonies from peasant women about maternal deaths, AIDS and US military bases, health problems of prostitutes, and the government's role in improving health care. GABRIELA held a press conference on May 28th to publicize the Day of Action, and another forum where women presented demands to prevent maternal mortality. As part of an ongoing campaign, GABRIELA will hold women's health education programs around Manila and in Central Luzon. They also plan to open the first "Maternal Home" which will be a model for alternative health support centers and are organizing women's health committees in poorer urban areas.
Source: Isis International Women's Health Journal, casilla 2067, Correo Central, Santiago, Chile
For more information on the Maternal Mortality Campaign, contact Isis international, Santiago, Chile or the Women's Global Network on Reproductive Rights, Nieuwe Zijds Voorburgwal 32, 1012 RZ Amsterdam, Netherlands.