Please permit me to make a couple of points:
1) Labour day has nothing to do with the labour of pregnancy. It is a day dedicated to the workers (men & women) of the world who toil in much less than ideal conditions. Initially this was associated with labour unions which were strong. Nowadays, there is little political activism around Labour Day & it has become just another holiday.
2) The quoted number of 287,000 deaths worldwide is not specifically related to maternal deaths in childbirth. Rather it has a relationship to many causes within pregnancy & childbirth. Nevertheless, it is a sad commentary on where we are in dealing with 'preventable causes of death'.
3) It is very gratifying to see that Cameroon has embarked on a program to integrate mental health into its health. There is no doubt that poor mental health can contribute to significant morbidity & mortality. The underlying factors of poverty and IPV [intimate partner violence - NPW] are surely important contributing factors. Are these same factors not at play around the world? We have known for a long time that poverty and IPV are closely linked to mental problems in women, both in pregnancy and outside it. If the rate of substance use is rising, that will lead to more problems. Will women's awareness help to deal with the mental problems related to substance use? Will awareness of substance use disorders be enough to improve the lot of women trapped in abusive relationships. Are they at present organizing to combat this problem?
4) If we accept that there is an increase in the amount of mental illness in women, do we know if there any statistics on the number of women who die from suicide? Is that something that women do or do they just live with it?
Thanks for listening.
Mickey
HIFA profile: Mickey Rostoker, MD, FCFP, is Associate Clinical Professor, Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Regina, Canada. He is a HIFA Country Representative: http://www.hifa.org/people/country-representatives http://www.hifa.org/support/members/mickey mrostoker AT gmail.com
