WOREC understands and takes issues related to women’s health as integral issue with several other issues such as right to food, water, and sanitation to live without facing any forms of discriminations. Women’s health encompasses more than pregnancy and reproductive illness. To ensure women’s good health, gender equality in respect of their social, educational, cultural and economic status, lack of control over resources and sexuality are the major dimensions that needs to be addressed. Though government of Nepal has been making effort to make health care services more accessible and affordable, due to the lack of health care providers, both gender-friendly and skilled, and effective implementation of health care policies, women’s access to health services is being hindered. As a result, untreated, acute and chronic reproductive health (RH) morbidities have been forcing women (especially poor and marginalized) to live a discriminated and an isolated life.
Based on this understanding, WOREC, through health camps and from women health counseling centers, has been screening the cases of reproductive morbidities and VAW to bring them for a complete management and support in social reintegration of the cases. The major objective of women’s health program is to establish health as rights and advocate for the effective implementation of health policies and programs to ensure women’s health rights at community and national level.
WOREC helps to facilitate in empowering and educating women to understand women’s right to health (including RH) from feminist perspective and right-based approach. With the feminist perspective in women’s health, WOREC has been continuously supporting community women to establish community based counseling centers, counseling service and advocacy at the policy level. There are 25 women health resource counseling centers—5 in Salyan, 5 in Dang, 2 in Siraha, 3 in Dhanuha, 3 in Morang, 1 in Sunsari and 6 in Udayapur district, where community based counselors give information about health and also give orientation on gender based violence.
Community Health Program
The concept of the community health program of WOREC is to provide essential health services to the marginal3ized and disadvantaged community in an acceptable and an affordable way. The community health clinics in Udayapur and Dang districts have been providing primitive, preventive (including counseling) and curative services at the grass root level. These clinics in coordination with district health offices provide primary health care to the communities that do not have an easy access to health care services. The community health clinics are 24-hour clinics and provide maternity services, family planning, counseling, immunization, RH morbidities (identifying fistula, RTIs, the degree of uterine prolapse and fitting ring pessary as appropriate or refer for surgical intervention in case of complicated cases), promoting medicinal herbs for minor infections and general check-up.