WEEK 2

THE POWER OF GIRLS: ENSURING HEALTH, UNLOCKING POTENTIAL

http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/adolescence/day-of-girl-2015/en/#

  

 

Day of the Girl Child

11 October 2015 – This year’s International Day of the Girl Child celebrates the incredible potential of adolescent girls worldwide, and recognises their right to a ‘safe, educated and healthy life, not only during these critical formative years, but also as they mature into women.

Adolescent girls have many specific needs which need to be recognised in order to ensure positive health outcomes for their physical and mental wellbeing. Too often, girls’ health suffers as the result of persistent inequalities, which exist both between and within countries.

Discrimination, unequal power relations, and structural failures mean that women and girls often miss out on life-saving health services and experience serious violations of their human rights.

One in four girls experience sexual violence before their 18th birthday. 30 million girls are at risk of female genital mutilation in the next decade.

Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second cause of death for girls aged 15-19 years globally. Each year, some 3 million girls aged 15 to 19 undergo unsafe abortions and babies born to adolescent mothers face a substantially higher risk of dying than those born to women aged 20 to 24.

Sexually transmitted infections disproportionately affect girls and women – including human papillomavirus, a cause of cervical cancer. In less developed regions – where many girls and women do not have access to cancer screening or prevention services – cervical cancer is the second most common cancer.

The new Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health , launched this September 2015 recognise the specific health needs of girls and provides key interventions which have the power to improve girls’ health and to safeguard their wellbeing.

Marleen Temmerman, Director of WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research including HRP comments, “While there is no magic bullet, there are also no excuses. We know what works. We know what interventions we can implement to make a difference.”

On this year’s International Day of the Girl Child WHO joins the global health community in working towards ensuring the health of adolescent girls, and helping unlock their powerful potential.

 Opinión personal

Unfortunately the girls that have sex without protection have not only as a result the unplanned pregnancies that are subsequently aborted, but also sexually transmitted diseases that can result in serious.today there are many ways to avoid this one of them is the use of condoms is the most cheap and is available to everyone.

Andrea Martinez Duran