ABSTRACT
Two out of three women around the world presently suffer from the most debilitating disease known to humanity. The impact of poverty and social status on women's health is a universal issue. Throughout the 1980s, a worsening global economic crisis brought into sharp relief the social, economic, and political dimensions of women's health. In every society, women provide critical economic support to their families, alone or in conjunction with spouses, by earning income in agriculture, in informal and formal labor markets, and in emerging international industries. Environmental degradation often hits women first and hardest. Rural women are constantly occupied in the collection of natural resources. The difficulties inherent in improving women's health prospects lie not in the need for undiscovered medical techniques or the creation of vast and costly new health establishments. Alleviating women's poverty—and empowering women to change discriminatory practices on their own terms—is, in essence, the most fundamental of all development challenges.
