Peru: Poorest Women and Children are Let Down by
Discriminatory Health Services(Lima) In a new report published today, Amnesty
International revealed that in Peru, discriminatory maternity and infant health
services are letting hundreds of impoverished women and children die every year
and denying many of them the right to an identity. "Effective maternity and infant health care in Peru seems
to be a privilege of the rich. Impoverished women who are at grater risk of
health problems during pregnancy and birth, and marginalized children who face
higher risks of illnesses during the first years of life are the ones who
receive the least protection," said Guadalupe Marengo, Amnesty International’s
Americas Deputy Director. Amnesty
International’s report also revealed that despite the development of a
governmental free health service for marginalized communities, effective health
care is not reaching impoverished women and children."Lack of proper investment and unequal distribution of
health resources across Peru is resulting in the deaths of hundreds of women and
children every year, deaths that could have been easily prevented," said
Guadalupe Marengo.According to
official statistics, during 2000 alone, 71 out of every 1,000 babies died at
birth in Huancavelica, one of Peru’s poorest department -- almost five times
more than in Lima, Peru's richest city, where 17 out of every 1,000 babies died
on the same year. The World Health
Organization estimated that 410 out of every 100,000 women died during labour in
Peru in 2004. This figure is surpassed only by Haiti, Guatemala and Bolivia --
the three poorest countries in the Americas.Amnesty International’s report, published in the context
of the III National Health Conference, also points out the discrimination
suffered by the few who access health services. "If you go [to the health centre] badly dressed they make
you wait longer and the ones who arrive later but better dressed go first … if
you complain, they treat you worse," said a woman from the town of Iquitos,
Amazon region. In other areas of the
country, indigenous women who decided or were not able to go to health centres
to give birth were fined and denied birth certificates.Fidencio, a farmer from Huanuco, central-east Peru, was
asked to pay US$30 at his local health centre as a fine for allowing his son to
be born at home. Fidencio would have to sell around 1,000 kilos of potatoes to
raise the money. As he failed to pay the fine, the local health centre has
denied him a birth certificate for his baby – who consequently doesn't have an
identity. In its final report, the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission said that one of the main causes of the 20
year long internal armed conflict in the country was the discrimination and lack
of access to economic, social and cultural rights for the poor -- particularly
women and indigenous peoples. "Discrimination against marginalised women and children
is a long-standing problem in Peru. The new government has the chance to change
the situation by setting the country's priorities right: they must guarantee
human rights for all without discrimination," said Guadalupe Marengo.
Amnesty International called on the
new Peruvian authorities to:
Ensure non-discrimination and distribution of
information regarding the free maternity and infant health service available
for socially excluded people;
Guarantee that marginalised women are not fined for
giving birth at home;
Ensure that all
children have access to birth certificates; and to
Guarantee adequate labour conditions and human rights
training for health professionals.
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For more information please call Amnesty
International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X
0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org
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