Traffic accidents are biggest killer of girls in rich countries

Traffic accidents are the biggest killer of adolescent girls in rich countries, the World Health Organization said.

In its report, Women and Health – the first global comparison of women's health from birth to death – the WHO found that in Europe, the US and other high-income countries, road accidents accounted for more than a quarter of all deaths among 10- to 19-year-olds.

Self-inflicted injuries (9.5%), violence (5%) and leukemia (4.2%) were the next biggest cause of fatalities, while neuropsychiatric conditions, such as unipolar depressive disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, are responsible for a large proportion of ill health among female adolescents.

Among adults, heart disease, far from being a man's condition, is the biggest cause of death among women across the globe than any other factor, the report found. In developed nations, for 20- to 59-year-olds, the main killers were breast and respiratory cancers followed by heart disease, while for women over 60, chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and lung diseases accounted for 45% of deaths. Bad habits – poor diet, lack of exercise, high levels of drinking and unprotected sex – are also big contributors to ill health and premature death.

Though they live on average six to eight years longer than men, women are often denied healthcare, especially during puberty and old age, the WHO said. “Women generally live longer than men, but their lives are not necessarily healthy or happy,” said Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO. “The obstacles that stand in the way of better health for women are not primarily technical or medical in nature. They are social and political.”

Women's eyesight problems, hearing loss, arthritis and dementia are often untreated.

“It's time to make sure that women and girls get the care and support they need to enjoy a fundamental human right at every moment of their lives, that is, their right to health,” said Chan.

The report said governments need to do much more to encourage healthier lifestyles and called for earlier intervention, especially during early childhood and teenage years.

“Health services need to be more responsive to their needs,” said Claudia García Moreno, one of the report's authors. They also need to take greater account of the differences in male and female health, she said.

“Health providers should be better attuned to understanding the differences between women and men in terms of how diseases manifest themselves,” she added.

(Source: guardian.co.uk)

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