May 28th is the International Day of Action for Women’s Health (IDAWH). This day was commemorated in 1987 by the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (LACWHN) and is characterized by ‘Call for Action’ campaigns that address unmet needs in women’s health. The first IDAWH campaign successfully addressed maternal mortality by improving access to educational resources for women’s organizations. Since then, IDAWH has given rise to dozens of global initiatives with the most recent campaign focusing on access to contraception.
The last two years have undoubtedly changed women’s health. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted women across the world and put tremendous strain on the healthcare system. Healthcare organizations underwent major changes, adopting an ‘all hands on deck’ approach and dedicating many resources to combat the growing international crisis. Understandably, this made it difficult for many individuals to receive healthcare for non-emergent health problems. This is especially true for women and girls living in intersecting vulnerabilities, who may experience even greater barriers to reproductive care within a fragile healthcare system.
In 2020, IDAWH’s Call for Action was Women’s Health STILL Matters: Women’s access to essential sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services remain critical in responding to COVID-19. This initiative was created to increase awareness and allocate resources toward women’s health amid the public health crisis. Global partners successfully carried out 50 Actions despite the profound impact of the pandemic.
While the pandemic presented organizers with many challenges, global partners got creative and went virtual to carry out their Call for Action. Webinars, zoom discussions, social media campaigns, and many other virtual activities were hosted to raise awareness and promote change. More than 20,000 tweets used the hashtag #MAY28 to support and share important information about IDAWH and its Call for Action. These initiatives were further supported by mass media including television, radio, and newspaper.
Through their efforts, global partners were able to get the attention of policymakers and received an outpouring of positive support for their media campaigns. In the Philippines, one Facebook post regarding potential legislative changes for increased access to reproductive healthcare received more than 11,000 positive reactions.
The theme for 2013’s Call for Action was access to contraception, where global partners sought to break down barriers to family planning through legislative change and increased education. Movements also sought to empower women to make their own choices regarding contraceptive use.
This year, IDAWH is once again addressing access to contraception. In support of this year’s Call for Action, the Canadian Federation of Medical Students hosted advocacy initiatives to universalize access to contraception across Canada. In early May, medical students met with members of parliament to propose the benefits of free, universal access to birth control, and the Canadian government has recently pledged funding initiatives to increase access to reproductive health services.
Although each year is characterized by a new Call for Action, the overarching goal is to see continuous improvement in all aspects of women’s healthcare. As each year passes, one of the largest driving forces that support IDAWH is education. This includes educating women, healthcare workers, and policymakers on the need for improved female reproductive healthcare. LACWHN and IDAWH have supported and implemented several educational initiatives that have produced successful outcomes, all the way from the grassroots movements for maternal mortality to the ongoing push for increased access to reproductive healthcare. A new Call for Action will be announced next year and will join the dozens of initiatives born from the International Day of Action for Women’s Health.