Leslie Carol Botha: Global gender gaps in health only add to women’s burden as the mainstays of their families. The state of women’s health is reflected in not only the health of the family, but of the community and the country. Women’s health affects the economy, social politics and religion. Seems to me that someone somewhere is aware of this fact.
Women report worse health than men in many areas
The Washington Post
World
By Olga Khazan
July 9, 2012
A girl looks through a bus window in the morning hours in Russia’s southern city of Stavropol in this Jan. 29, 2007, file photo. Russia has one of the highest male-female gaps in health. (Eduard Korniyenko – Reuters)
Women around the world report experiencing more physical pain, worry and sadness than men do, and there is an especially large gap between women’s and men’s health in the former Soviet Union, according to a Gallup survey published Monday.
In answer to the question, “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your personal health?” the biggest differences between the percentage of women and men responding as “satisfied” occured in Pakistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia and Russia.
In various countries, women are also more likely than men to report physical pain.
“In 21 countries, women are at least 10 percentage points more likely than men to report experiencing physical pain. Lebanon has the largest gender gap in the world, with women 21 percentage points more likely than men to report experiencing pain,” Gallup found.
