Johannesburg - It is reported that women tend to be hesitant to seek healthcare associated with taboo subjects such as sex, HIV, and reproductive health.
This lack of awareness becomes a challenge to be tackled for preventative women's healthcare.
Experts say promoting women’s reproductive and overall health should be a top priority for community development.
According to Sister Thandi Mgcina, healthcare manager at NPO, Rhiza Babuyile, there are still many adolescent girls and women who need to be encouraged to seek healthcare at their closest available facility.
This is because many women are reluctant to seek healthcare associated with taboo subjects such as sex, HIV, and reproductive health.
Mgcina said the decrease in cases associated with teenage pregnancy shows that communities have improved access to primary healthcare for women.
"Anecdotally, our staff members have also noticed fewer cases of teenage pregnancy in the areas they operate. We need to encourage women to take proactive measures, such as visiting primary healthcare facilities to check on their health, even when they are not ill or pregnant.
“Previous years have demonstrated that communities where women have improved access to holistic primary healthcare for women, including reproductive healthcare, care associated with gender-based violence (GBV), and mental healthcare, are far more stable socio-economically than those that lack these essential features of community development," said Mgcina.
She further maps out their goals and said: "Our goal at Rhiza Babuyile is to provide an environment where girls and women can make choices about what occurs in their own bodies without feeling excessive pressure or having others make those choices for them."
In addition to pressure from predators to engage in consensual and non-consensual sexual activity, which results in many of the documented teenage and unwanted pregnancies, women and adolescent girls also face issues, including abuses of their bodily autonomy.
"Government and the private sector must collaborate in efforts to promote holistic and empathetic healthcare for women in order to promote a more equal, healthy society," she said.
Mgcina said by promoting women's healthcare in the most vulnerable communities, they are preventing another surge in demand for public tertiary healthcare.
This also improves the daily lives of communities and their development outcomes.
If South Africa can lower the number of women falling ill from preventable diseases such as cervical cancer, HIV, and diseases associated with malnutrition, this will mean more women who are able to be economically active can contribute to the livelihoods of their families.
The Star