Here's the interview I spoke of in the post "Yemen Today" with Aicha, a twenty-three year old educated Yemeni woman, on the topic of women's health care. The information written that has an Astrix before it just means that its information I added after interview that I thought might be relevant to address in the article itself:
Interview on Women's Health Care
Date: November 8, 2009
Interviewee: Anonymous (will refer to her as Aicha)
Interviewer: Danielle Giacchetti
Occupation: Accountant
Age: 23, Gender: Female, Nationality: Yemeni
1.) How do you feel about women’s health care in Yemen generally speaking?
-"It could use improvement."
Both her mother and sister have had bad experiences with hospitals and health care professionals, finding them unprepared for the situations in which their expertise was needed.
Example: Aicha told the story of her sister who became pregnant, but when the baby died unexpectedly, she had to have a surgical procedure to remove the stillborn. This is a basic and not uncommon medical procedure requiring the use of an anesthetic. Aicha’s sister was given a form of anesthesia without it being tested on her prior to her exposure at the hospital and ended up having an allergic reaction which put her in a coma for almost 24 hours.
*In the US, both diagnostic testing and a pre-anesthesia interview must often be completed before a person enters surgery
2.) What do you feel are currently the biggest challenges facing women’s health care?
-"There are a lack of clean facilities at hospitals and clinics in Yemen."
-"The environment in Yemen does not encourage nor is it conducive to women’s health care."
-"People’s financial situation."
-"Lack of time due to devotion to family and other duties."
-"Lack of faith in the health care profession itself: everyone has had a bad experience themselves or knows multiple people who have."
3.) How do people in Yemen cope with health care problems if citizens rarely visit the doctor?
- "People who live in Yemen are accustomed to treating whatever symptoms they have on their own, whether it’s a cold or something more serious. In addition, when Yemenis do visit the doctor, it is because they are already sick, there is no real preventative care. This is the mentality surrounding health care in Yemen."
Example: Aicha is a twenty-three year old woman who has never seen a gynecologist.
*In the US, when a girl turns 18 or before then if she is sexually active, it is highly recommended she go the gynecologist to get a pap smear. It is required to see a gynecologist if she wants to be put on birth control. This practice is the norm amongst the majority of women in the States (I need to look up exact statistics for US and Europe).
4.) How do most Yemeni women feel about going to the doctor, especially the gynecologist?
-"Women (and the population in general) do not believe in going to the doctor here."
Aicha believes is one of the biggest reasons why people don’t go.
-"Body image and comfort around doctors may at times be a factor in women neglecting their health, but this is not a significant issue. Most women who are shy about being examined and treated by a doctor also become much more comfortable with the process after pregnancy and childbirth."
-"The reasons that most women don’t seek health care when they should are more frequently rooted in social and cultural influences or mentalities."
Additionally, Aicha notes that women become careless about themselves in Yemeni society due to their overwhelming responsibilities to their home and family and because of their financial circumstances. A lack of money and time, therefore, are also significant obstacles for women’s health. However, Aicha feels the mentality of the people towards health care and their lack of trust in the medical field comes before factors of time and money.
-"Health care in Yemen is not a priority. It is not a part of the culture and preventative health care is not recognized here."
5.) Do you think that the lack of thorough health care can be, at least partially, blamed on regulations mandated by Islam? Can Islam and quality health care for women co-exist?
Aicha doesn’t feel that the practice of Islam is the problem as Islam and proper medical care don’t conflict. The reasons stated above (question #4) are the contributing factors to the lack of health care for women.
6.) What role do you think education plays in this struggle and do you think women are properly educated about health care, their bodies and the options available to them?
-"Education plays a big role as Yemeni’s are not taught about the importance of regular health care."
As Aicha has stated previously, it is simply not a part of the culture here.
*Children are not given sex education as in the US, for instance, where most boys and girls are taught about their bodies and how they will be changing over the coming years. Also, the importance of yearly doctor visits or preventive health care is not addressed.
-"As far as women are concerned, they are aware of the options available to them only in regards to pregnancy."
7.) What is something you would change about the health care system for women in Yemen if you could?
-"I would make two main changes. I would enforce the idea of a proper health care system in schools, (such as) things like yearly check-ups, etc."
*In order to start institutionalizing the idea of health care to change the mentality of the people
-"Second, I would create and maintain a system of health standards and regulations for all hospitals and medical facilities."
*To ensure a clean medical environment and to guarantee that doctors follow accurate protocol for procedures.
8.) Is there anything else you would like to say in regards to this topic that you think is worth mentioning?
-"Women in Yemen are very patient so they endure pain, especially with the financial situation being what it is."
Interview on Women's Health Care
Date: November 8, 2009
Interviewee: Anonymous (will refer to her as Aicha)
Interviewer: Danielle Giacchetti
Occupation: Accountant
Age: 23, Gender: Female, Nationality: Yemeni
1.) How do you feel about women’s health care in Yemen generally speaking?
-"It could use improvement."
Both her mother and sister have had bad experiences with hospitals and health care professionals, finding them unprepared for the situations in which their expertise was needed.
Example: Aicha told the story of her sister who became pregnant, but when the baby died unexpectedly, she had to have a surgical procedure to remove the stillborn. This is a basic and not uncommon medical procedure requiring the use of an anesthetic. Aicha’s sister was given a form of anesthesia without it being tested on her prior to her exposure at the hospital and ended up having an allergic reaction which put her in a coma for almost 24 hours.
*In the US, both diagnostic testing and a pre-anesthesia interview must often be completed before a person enters surgery
2.) What do you feel are currently the biggest challenges facing women’s health care?
-"There are a lack of clean facilities at hospitals and clinics in Yemen."
-"The environment in Yemen does not encourage nor is it conducive to women’s health care."
-"People’s financial situation."
-"Lack of time due to devotion to family and other duties."
-"Lack of faith in the health care profession itself: everyone has had a bad experience themselves or knows multiple people who have."
3.) How do people in Yemen cope with health care problems if citizens rarely visit the doctor?
- "People who live in Yemen are accustomed to treating whatever symptoms they have on their own, whether it’s a cold or something more serious. In addition, when Yemenis do visit the doctor, it is because they are already sick, there is no real preventative care. This is the mentality surrounding health care in Yemen."
Example: Aicha is a twenty-three year old woman who has never seen a gynecologist.
*In the US, when a girl turns 18 or before then if she is sexually active, it is highly recommended she go the gynecologist to get a pap smear. It is required to see a gynecologist if she wants to be put on birth control. This practice is the norm amongst the majority of women in the States (I need to look up exact statistics for US and Europe).
4.) How do most Yemeni women feel about going to the doctor, especially the gynecologist?
-"Women (and the population in general) do not believe in going to the doctor here."
Aicha believes is one of the biggest reasons why people don’t go.
-"Body image and comfort around doctors may at times be a factor in women neglecting their health, but this is not a significant issue. Most women who are shy about being examined and treated by a doctor also become much more comfortable with the process after pregnancy and childbirth."
-"The reasons that most women don’t seek health care when they should are more frequently rooted in social and cultural influences or mentalities."
Additionally, Aicha notes that women become careless about themselves in Yemeni society due to their overwhelming responsibilities to their home and family and because of their financial circumstances. A lack of money and time, therefore, are also significant obstacles for women’s health. However, Aicha feels the mentality of the people towards health care and their lack of trust in the medical field comes before factors of time and money.
-"Health care in Yemen is not a priority. It is not a part of the culture and preventative health care is not recognized here."
5.) Do you think that the lack of thorough health care can be, at least partially, blamed on regulations mandated by Islam? Can Islam and quality health care for women co-exist?
Aicha doesn’t feel that the practice of Islam is the problem as Islam and proper medical care don’t conflict. The reasons stated above (question #4) are the contributing factors to the lack of health care for women.
6.) What role do you think education plays in this struggle and do you think women are properly educated about health care, their bodies and the options available to them?
-"Education plays a big role as Yemeni’s are not taught about the importance of regular health care."
As Aicha has stated previously, it is simply not a part of the culture here.
*Children are not given sex education as in the US, for instance, where most boys and girls are taught about their bodies and how they will be changing over the coming years. Also, the importance of yearly doctor visits or preventive health care is not addressed.
-"As far as women are concerned, they are aware of the options available to them only in regards to pregnancy."
7.) What is something you would change about the health care system for women in Yemen if you could?
-"I would make two main changes. I would enforce the idea of a proper health care system in schools, (such as) things like yearly check-ups, etc."
*In order to start institutionalizing the idea of health care to change the mentality of the people
-"Second, I would create and maintain a system of health standards and regulations for all hospitals and medical facilities."
*To ensure a clean medical environment and to guarantee that doctors follow accurate protocol for procedures.
8.) Is there anything else you would like to say in regards to this topic that you think is worth mentioning?
-"Women in Yemen are very patient so they endure pain, especially with the financial situation being what it is."
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