HEALTH STATUS OF MUSLIM WOMEN
A health survey was conducted in various parts of Bandra East, Mumbai to understand the health conditions of Muslim women. The respondents were from various localities of Behrampada, Bharatnagar, Navpada, Nirmal Nagar, Tata Colony and Jyaneshwar nagar. Some respondents were from the neighbouring areas of Golibar in Khar east, Lohiya Nagar of Parla west and Kalina in Santacruz east. All respondents belonged to the slum communities in this area. The women belonged to lower socio-economic strata. The age group of women was between 13-45 years of age. Most of them have studied up to class 10. 13% of the respondents are illiterate. , 3% are educated less or till Std 4th, 27% have studied between 5th-8thstd. 28% have been educated between 9thand 10th std. 28% of them have attended college of which only 8% have graduated.
General Health:
To get a firsthand understanding of what women felt about their health, 88 women reported to be having a fair health, somewhere in-between good and poor health. At least the perception about ones health is a positive one where collectively 56 women reporting to be having very good to excellent health. 34 women say that they have poor health. This is reflected in the figure where 145 have reported to have visited the doctor in the last one month. So all those women who reported ‘fair’ and ‘poor’ health and a few others [145] have visited the doctor in the past one month. And as is widely known that the health care sector has been largely privatized. 164 respondents go to private doctors which line the communities where the study was conducted. The clinics of these doctors and the community health posts are within 10-15 minutes of walking distance from their home. A good number, 54 have to travel by a vehicle mostly an auto to visit the doctor.
20% of the respondents have a history of prolonged illnesses. Out of the 20% women, 6% of the women suffer from blood pressure, 8% suffer from diabetes, tuberculosis, thyroid and body/joint pains and another 3% each suffer from asthma, kidney stone and skin problem. 44% of the women have been suffering for any time between one to five years, 26% of the women live with the sickness for any time between 6 to 12 years and 18% have contracted their sickness anytime between 1to 6 months. Women don’t really prioritize their health. They prolong its treatment till it becomes unbearable.
While 164 women have said that they eat 3 square meals a day, 56 say that they are not able to eat 3 times a day and 30 women are able to do it only sometimes. Combined 86 women are under eating. This is just the fact of eating three times. What they eat during these three meals also needs to be looked into.
Popping pills is fairly common with 64 women reporting to be taking painkillers once a month and 43 taking it every single day and 29 taking once a week. If we combine these numbers than 136 women out of 250 take painkillers on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Makes sense as earlier we saw 145 visiting the doctor practically once every month. And one does not even have to visit a doctor to take painkillers. It is also reflected in the figures concerning the HB count. 76% of the respondents had no idea about their HB count.
A large majority, 210, reported to having regular bowel movements. It may be an insignificant number but 16 women go to the toilet twice a week and 24 go only four times a week. Irregular bowel movements which is as infrequent as only twice a week can lead to severe health problems apart from playing havoc with one’s mental state, mobility and activities. Out of which a large number, 148 go in the morning. A very significant number, 69, go whenever it is free, 22 in the night and 11 in the evening. Given that most communities have public toilets, safety of women around public toilets is a major concern. Another significant data is whether women are dependent on any substance for easy bowel movement. 73 women are dependent which goes well with another data where 74 women have reported to be addicted to paan, gutkha, tobacco and masheri. To add to this dependence is the inadequate amount of water intake. 72 women out of 250 drink only 2-4 glasses of water and 80 drink 4-6 glasses. 152 women drink less than 6 glasses of water.
Lack of healthy, fibrous food, inability to have 3 square meals, inadequate water intake, unhealthy timing of eating meals, especially dinner, all combine to give a situation like this. Deficiency of sunlight is a cause of deficiency of vitamin D. 132 women out of 250 do not get sunlight into their homes thus depriving themselves and their families of this vital source of natural energy. Moreover 157 women out of 250 wear burkha when they leave the house for any chore. Another method to keep the sun away from even touching one’s body. 12% of the 157 women who wear burkha have reported breathing difficulty, 10% suffer from headache, 6% have skin problems and 3% have hyper tension.
Reproductive Health:
250 respondents were checked on for their reproductive health. A large percentage of them showed that they got their periods at the right time although 21 of them got it between 9-12 years and 6 after the age of 16. The cause of concern is that 40 reported to be having irregular periods. 30 of them had heavy bleeding including clots and flooding.
On the gap between two menstrual periods, it needs to be analyzed further. If we take 29-32 days as a normal gap between two cycles than only 40, which is 16% of the respondents have a normal gap of 29-32 days. 76 respondents have a gap of 25-28 days. So if we combine the two numbers, 76 and 40, then a fairly good number, 116 have a normal gap of 25-32 days. Cause of concern is 53 who have a gap of less than 21 days and 42 who have a gap of 22-24 days. If we combine this with 10 who get their periods twice a month, then we have 84 respondents who get periods in less than 24 days.
Only 37 women reported not having any symptoms. Rest reported experiencing pelvic pain, nausea, weakness, lower back pain, headache, leg ache and other aches and pains. Out of which lower back pain and weakness was the most common difficulty faced.
If we combine always and sometimes, then 120 out of 250 women have complained of white discharge other than that experienced before or after the periods. White discharge is symptomatic of infections and if kept untreated can lead to debilitating illnesses. Another indication is that of genital itching where 18 have reported to be always having this problem and a big number, 81 say that they experience it sometimes. Given the shame attached to reproductive health and lack of access to public health care coupled with poverty, it is no wonder that a whopping 82 women do not seek treatment at all.
Comparing this data with data on how quickly women reach out for medical help in non-reproductive ailment, shows that 66 women reached out to the doctor immediately, 95 women within a day and 38 within a week and 43 when it was completely unbearable. There was nobody who did not seek medical treatment in non-reproductive health issues! 24 reached out for medical care within 15 days and 17 within a month. Of the 250 women surveyed it is was observed that only 26% of them visit the doctor immediately, 38% visit the doctor within a day, 15% within a week, 3% within a month and 17% when the pain becomes unbearable. Only 46 women sought treatment immediately.
If we look at pregnancy related issues, 95 respondents had pregnancy between the ages of 15-20 and 17 before the age of 15. 112 have had pregnancies before the age of 20. Which also implies and is validated by the data that early marriage and pregnancy keeps them away from education and skill development. Early pregnancy means many physiological and psychological ramifications which all of us are aware of. Copper T appears to be the most favoured family planning method followed by condom. 13 have undergone sterilization.
Mental Health:
Sleep is an indication of good health. 6-8 of hours of sleep is considered to be adequate for complete rest to the body. Out of the 250 women surveyed 154 women get less than 6 hours of sleep. Many reasons are attributed for lack of adequate sleep. Husband or the earning member of the house, which in a Muslim household is largely involved in informal work which has long and irregular hours. Working late night, eating late night dinner and thus sleeping late becomes a norm. Women with small children have to get up early for their school and also to fill up water. Thus they do not get block undisturbed sleep. Long term impact of inadequate sleep have been widely researched and women are highly susceptible towards those diseases.
Out of the 250 women surveyed, 51 have reported to be feeling sad and depressed most of the time and 115 feel so sometimes. 107 of them feel angry and upset most of the time. As the socio economic status of women of this study shows that the respondents are from a lower socio-economic strata. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of means for self fulfilment could can also lead to negative feelings.
74 women out of 250 are addicted to paan, gutka, masheriand tobacco. Thus 30% of respondents have some or the other form of addiction. Long term impact of addiction to these substances can be very fatal. Easy availability and accessibility of these substances and its dependence for various reasons have made women dependent on these substances.
Mental health is in many ways linked to physical violence. 66 women have reported to have faced physical violence. 18 women said they faced violence during sex most of the time and 7 women said they faced violence during sex sometimes. 25 women have been subjected to violence during sex.
Lack of sleep, addiction to substances, physical and sexual violence on one hand and feelings of anger and sadness on the other are very clearly visible in this study. It is an indication for the state and for the community to take note of it.
Demands Towards The Government:
Women were clearly stated that they want drains and public toilets be cleaned regularly by the BMC. There should also be waste bins at regular intervals. These bins must be cleared regularly by the BMC. Waste should be put only in the bins and they acknowledge that it is the people’s fault for not doing so always. Everyone felt that free medicines and tests should definitely be available in hospitals. Respect and good behaviour is also expected from the staff of the hospitals. There should be a fully functional health centre in each slum community. The health centre must have the following facilities of general body check-up, treatment for minor illnesses, medicines [tablets, ointments and injections], machines like x-ray and sonography, facility for blood test, ECG, tetanus shots, gynaecology services like regular check-up, sonography etc. and basic health care in case of sudden illnesses and emergencies. They believe that hospitals should be state run and not be privatised.Doctors, medicines and machines must be available round the clock so that the poor does not have to run from pillar to post. The poor depend on the state run hospitals and state must not run away from its responsibility. The state must spend on medicines, machines and total health care facility for the poor.
