Oral

The complex social and cultural aspect of women's health in various settings in developing and industrialized countries within developing countries necessitates health education, family planning, child health and maternal care. Advancing and enhancing women's health reduces future costs of health care and improves child health .Unfortunately preventive services for women are not readily available and often women are discriminated against. The lack of, or under usage of preventive services by women has resulted in women bearing the brunt of diseases such as HIV/ AIDS. Unfortunately in many instances women are not aware of the importance of the benefits preventive services such as screening. Women do not have access to contraceptive services due to the exclusion of such services by the policy makers and health care providers including the insurance companies. There is a gap which is found in women’s health care with regard to the availability of preventive services and this session will highlight the existing gaps and by using evidence based presentations. A suggestion of what measures and policy amendments can be made will feature in this session .This session hopes to bring to the attention of the attendees why preventive services for women are important and the role they have in building healthier communities globally.

Session Objectives: 1. The session will address issues on prevention in addressing the health status among women from a public health perspective. 2. The policies and strategies currently in place to address the issue of the various factors and gaps with regard to preventive services will be discussed. 3.Role of various stakeholders working at grass roots level to address this public health challenge of addressing women's health needes will be discussed.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)