WUNRN
Dr. V. Mohini Giri, Chairperson, Guild of Service, India
For Rural Older Women & The Right to Health Panel CSW 56
ELDERLY WIDOWS' HEALTH - INDIA
India has
witnessed considerable social development over the last few years. One of the
ways in which this has been manifested is the increase in life expectancy,
which has changed our demographic profile to a great extent. There are now a
much larger proportion of older persons in our total population, particularly
those above the age of 80.
Women constitute
a large part of the elderly age group and more than 50 percent of these women
are rural elderly single women. Out of 28% widows eligible for pension only 11%
are able to receive it because the process of claiming it is cumbersome. During
my nationwide deliberations, as the chairman of the review committee of
National Policy for Older Persons I have experienced the pain and trauma of the
elderly. I am now fully convinced that we need a mechanism like a Department of
Welfare for Elderly, a National Commission for the elderly so as to better
understand and resolve this concern towards financial, healthcare, shelter,
welfare and other needs.
As today the topic in hand is health of the elderly widows
I would like to emphasize that the survey conducted by Guild last year on the
widows and single elderly women of
Vrindavan highlighted some major issues concerning the health of widows. The
second highest expenditure incurred by widows is on medicines and gaining
medical aid. About four-fifth of the widows have fallen ill in last six months
in Vrindavan.
At the age of 65 or above women are most vulnerable
especially when they are abandoned. They go through hormonal changes, face
health issues like muscular-skeletal, cardio-vascular, respiratory,
gastro-intestinal, endocrinal and psychiatry. At this stage they are in dire
need of medical assistance and counseling support. The counseling part is
highly ignored and they are left with little or no information about their
current status.
Apart from old age their living conditions are also
responsible for their ill health. They squat in open dirty places, sleep on
dirty beds and eat unhygienic food. The water they drink is contaminated and
half of the sick widows suffered from diarrhea. Young rural widows are
malnourished and those lactating mothers and expecting mothers are have limited
or no access to medical aid which leads to infant deaths and impoverished
childhood.
Most widows are unaware of HIV AIDS. Seventy two percent
had not even heard of the infection. The knowledge about menstrual hygiene is
negligible. Only twelve percent of them use sanitary napkins. The rest continue
to use cotton, old cloth and clay.
In remote villages the health of women is neglected and is
not considered as a pivotal issue. They do household work, toil in farms, tend
to children and shop for grocery but still are given the last of the food with
negligible nutrition. If a married women with full family endures such
condition then what shall I say about a widow who has no family and is
abandoned. If getting food to survive is difficult for them how can we expect
them to know about their right to health?
Despite of putting in all the efforts we are unable to
build a strong and stable health system for these widows. We have made
suggestion to Government and UN Women to issue some sort of smart cards which
can give them access to government hospitals and provide them with instant
access to treatment. It is difficult to spread awareness at this age and this
piece of information should be considered while formulating awareness policies.
Several recommendations have been gathered to make
interventions in the deteriorating state of widows. However, active participation
has been scant. I believe that we should develop a holistic approach for the
widows and ensure inter-sectoral convergence between departments of heath,
shelter, pensions and employment. Linkages between existing cadres of trained
social and health workers will help to address the widow’s requirements
including psychological and health needs.
It is my
experience that the widows and especially the old ones who cannot address their
grievances to various departments for their pensions, healthcare and other
needs one window clearance and protection against abuse and exploitation. Lastly, we should aim in developing a strong health system
as it is a primal issue and in absence of it not only widows but a huge section
of our population is enduring.