Development Minister Svenja Schulze: “Every woman has the right to decide for herself about her body. But there are still far too many women in the world who are denied this right. For example, because they suffer from an illness that is neither diagnosed nor treated and which makes them infertile. Women suffer from such neglected diseases more often than men. This is also because diseases that more commonly affect women are more neglected. This is an injustice that affects millions of women. Today, together with many partners, we are launching an initiative that is committed to the health of women and girls.”
Minister Schulze will launch the initiative “From Neglect to Action: Invest in Women, Invest in Health“ together with the Director General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Malawian Health Minister Khumbize Chiponda and the director of the U.N.-World Population Fund Dr. Introducing Natalia Kanem. The initiative complements the commitment of the BMZ for neglected tropical diseases and for sexual and reproductive health and rights. If left untreated, female genital schistosomiasis can have serious long-term consequences, including chronic inflammation, miscarriages, infertility and an increased risk of AIDS. For the women and girls affected, it often represents an additional barrier to actively participating in educational opportunities and the labor market.
There is a lack of knowledge and education about both society and medical professionals FGS. Women are often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with sexually transmitted infections. This can further lead to stigmatization and violence against women. The BMZinitiative therefore aims at education, diagnosis and treatment. The pilot country for the initiative is Malawi. The disease is a form of schistosomiasis caused by parasites in contaminated water and is relatively easy to treat.
Global health also faces major challenges due to disease outbreaks such as MPox on the African continent and polio in Gaza. With Corona at the latest, it has become clear that diseases and viruses do not stop at national borders and can therefore only be combated globally and together. The World Health Summit therefore also aims to bring people from politics, medicine, business and civil society together so that solutions can be worked on in a spirit of trust and partnership. Only in this way will it be possible to achieve “health and well-being”, one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the global community.