Friday, July 11, 2008

More blogs from the ICOWHI conference attendees

Kayla and Shira Kapito, attendees at the International Conference on Women's Health Issues, continue to detail their experience through blogs. I thank them greatly for sharing their thoughts and reflections.

July 9th: This morning the ICOWHI conference began with several sessions on the policy and legislation of the girl child. The first session we attended was a presentation on the Illegal Organ Market, which was extremely informative due to the fact that we were unaware of this system. A huge problem internationally, the illegal organ market highlights issues of poverty and woman's health since most of the donors are women who are forced into selling organs, such as kidneys. After participating in this fascinating discussion, we were left wondering whether legalizing this market would actually change anything.

The next presenter spoke about children trafficking globally, specifically in Swaziland. The most surprising part of this session was learning that trafficking is not seen as a criminal act. Even more shocking is that some children willingly run away or sell themselves because of poverty and hunger. The issue of trafficking is a large issue in Swaziland that will take great measures to solve.

After the session on trafficking, we attended a presentation about the global issue of obesity. Although obesity is clearly an issue in the United States, we were unaware that it is also a rising problem in Botswana and South Africa. The key to solving this global concern of obesity is education. It is only through education that people around the world can learn about the long term effects of obesity such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and even death.

Overall, today was a very exciting first day of the ICOWHI conference. The presenters were engaging and the discussions were captivating. We look forward to learning more tomorrow!

July 10th: Day two of the ICOWHI conference started with a presentation about mental health and the development of the girl child. The presenter spoke about the importance of not only looking at the physical health, but also looking at the mental health of the child. We learned that when determining the mental health of African children, it is the quality of home life that matters and not the socio-economic status. The presenter continued to talk about interesting issues in Africa such as malnutrition and pregnancy. She ended with stating that we need better nurse specialists in practice and policy in order to solve these predicaments.

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to watch the documentary, Wardance¸which is about the Acholi tribe in Northern Uganda. This documentary portrayed the struggles of three children living in the war zone during the time of the Civil War. This film was not only heart-wrenching but also did not leave a dry eye in the audience. We highly recommend taking the time to see this moving documentary.

Following the documentary, we had the chance to listen to a phenomenal speaker on the issues of genital mutilation. The presenter shared with us a research study that she conducted in Ohio where the second largest Somali immigrant population resides. These Somali immigrants shared with the researcher their history and feelings toward their customs of genital circumcision which was interesting and educational.

Ultimately, the second day concluded with the conference participants enjoying either a safari adventure or a demonstration by the Oodi weavers.

July 11th: Unfortunately, today was the last day of the ICOWHI conference in Gaborone, Botswana. It began with a lecture on children and HIV/AIDS in resource limited settings, such as Botswana. Speaking about the issues in Botswana following the rise of HIV/AIDS, the presenter gladly declared our ongoing success in improving access to care, strengthening routine and couple testing, and educating society. We left this presentation with the notion that even in a resource limited country, like Botswana, lives can be saved.

The next presentation that we attended dealt with parent-child communication on adolescent sexual risk behaviors. This research study conducted on female adolescents in Botswana looked at the sexual communication between parents and their children. Because it is culturally inappropriate to talk to parents about sex, adolescents receive misinformation from friends regarding these topics.

Following the lecture on sexual communication, we went to another discussion on reducing HIV risk associated with sexual behavior of adolescents. It was brought to our attention that HIV/STD is a national concern among teens and can only be solved through listening to the adolescents’ voices. The take-home message of this presentation was that knowledge does not change behavior. The way in which we must change behavior is through time, trust, and team-building.

The conference concluded with Dean Meleis presenting the Phyllis Stern award to Her Worship Judge Unity Dow. This award recognizes leadership in women’s health. Her Worship Judge Unity Dow accepted this award by telling a moving story to illustrate the idea that there is more to health than medicine.

The 2008 ICOWHI conference in Gaborone, Botswana, was a great success. The next conference will be held at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 2010. We hope to see you there!

-Kayla and Shira Kapito

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

International Perspectives on the State of the Science: An ICOWHI Pre-Conference

When scientists, clinicians, and consumers gather together to share their work, their vision and their hopes for equitable health care for women, they create an agenda for quality care for women. As Council General for the International Council on Women's Health Issues, my dream is that after each of these gatherings, their shared voice reverberates to eliminate aggression and violence globally.

Already, I can see how the ICOWHI conferences are impacting those who listen. After the July 8th Pre-Conference in Botswana on Gender-Based Violence and HIV Risk Among Adolescent Girls, two attendees, Kayla and Shira Kapito, shared with me their reflections:

As students, we are fortunate enough to be in Botswana attending the International Council on Women’s Health Issues. The Pre-Conference began this morning, Tuesday July 8, 2008, when we were welcomed by Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell from John Hopkins University who presented an overview on the intersection of HIV and the violence against women. Dr. Campbell discussed the correlation between gender based violence and the contraction of HIV and AIDS. She proceeded to talk about topics ranging from safe sexual health practice, coercive sex to child abuse.

The first panel spoke about how gender based violence stems from cultural customs, which promotes violations of human rights and gender inequalities. It is essential to understand that sexual rights are human rights. This panel further evaluated the definition of intersectionality and how it relates to the vulnerability of HIV/AIDS. Lastly, this panel examined society’s influence on the conceptions of sex. The panel spoke about how these conceptions of sex promote gender violence and how crucial it is that we try to prevent this cruelty. We found this first panel to not only be informative, but also eye-opening.

The second panel discussed how HIV/AIDS are a leading global health problem today, specifically in adolescent girls. While efforts to find a cure for HIV have been unsuccessful, the endeavors to prevent HIV through appropriate strategies and interventions have proven to be more triumphant. In addition, the second panel spoke about the impacts of sexual assault that the girl child suffers from on both a psychological and physical level. Researchers are currently implementing means of measuring sexual assault through physical forensic examinations. This panel was both interesting and enlightening.

The third and last panel furthered the discussion on child sexual abuse by pointing out that while most of our attention is given to the physical clinical care of the abused girl child, our focus should also be concentrated on the psychosocial care. In order to effectively care for the abused girl children, housing programs and youth groups have been created and have successfully reduced negative health outcomes.

As young American women, we found this pre-conference to be intensely shocking and thought-provoking. Although it is hard to grasp what these girl children experience on a day to day basis, it is essential that we begin to understand these issues so that we can help prevent gender based violence in the future.