Written Answers. - Women's Health Week.
Charles Flanagan
Question:
176
Mr. Flanagan
asked the
Minister for Health
the proposals, if any, he has to set in place a Women's Health Week to highlight specific initiatives and preventable health problems affecting women in society; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
My Department's Health Promotion Unit is involved in a wide range of initiatives at national level which are of particular relevance to women's health. The Health Promotion Unit works closely with the Council for the Status of Women, the Irish Country Women's Association and a number of other organisations in the development of initiatives which address the health and well-being of women.
During 1993 the Health Promotion Unit has financially supported the following projects relating to menopause: an educational video produced and distributed by Family Planning Services Limited; a manual for health professionals which will be launched at the inaugural meeting of the Irish Menopause Society in December; and a seminar, organised jointly by the Council for the Status of Women and Dublin Well Woman Centre.
The Health Promotion Unit has worked in conjunction with the Council for the Status of Women on the development of a booklet on menstruation for girls which will be available in early 1994. The unit also continues its support for DES Action Ireland, which was initiated by the Council for the Status of Women in 1990 and which aims to identify all women exposed to the drug Diethylstilboestrol, DES, during pregnancy. The DES action group through its awareness campaign and follow-up screening service has identified individuals with definite signs of DES exposure and has been able to offer those individuals advice and support on the issue.
The Endometriosis Society of Ireland has secured funding from the Health Promotion Unit to produce leaflets for distribution on this topic. The Miscarriage Association of Ireland and Tipperary Childbirth Research Trust have also obtained funding to print their booklet on miscarriage, which will be circulated to prenatal clinics, obstetricians and gynaecologists and representatives of medical, nursing and social work professions.
The need for specific AIDS awareness messages targeted at women has been identified and the Health Promotion Unit's awareness campaign has addressed this issue. Women are currently featured in the unit's multi-media AIDS prevention campaign which presents clear, hard-hitting messages on the topic. Further AIDS messages targeted at women have also been placed in the washroom-toilet areas of women's clinics.
The Social Work Department of St. James Hospital and Womens Aid with financial assistance from the Health Promotion Unit have developed resource materials for use by health professionals to assist them in identifying and recording assaults on women. The Department of Health is finalising arrangements for the release of a health board officer to coordinate this project. In the light of the Kilkenny Incest Investigation this will be a welcome initiative in helping to streamline the reporting process for such assaults, so that preventive action is taken at an early stage.
Other organisations which have been supported in 1993 include the Federation of Services for Unmarried Parents and their children, the Association for Improvement in Maternity Hospitals and La Leche League.
If those providing health information to women are to do their job effectively, it is a prerequisite that they have available to them accurate, up-to-date information on women's health needs. For this reason, the Health Promotion Unit is co-funding a major national survey of women's health needs being carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute for the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. The results of the survey, to be published next year should provide valuable information on where useful health information and education interventions might be made in the future.
The public office of the Health Promotion Unit in the Department of Health provides free of charge a range of resource materials which relate to women's health. Titles of publications include:Book of the Child, Gynae Book, Hysterectomy, Menopause, Cystitis, Smoking and Pregnancy, Women and Alcohol.
These titles together with a number of educational videos are distributed countrywide through the unit's links with health boards and voluntary groups. Demand for materials is very high and is evidenced by the ever-increasing numbers of titles printed each year.
Because of the very comprehensive way in which the Health Promotion Unit is addressing women's health needs, particlarly in its collaborative work with various women's organisations, I have no plans currently for a Women's Health Week.
