Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Phillips Sobering News on Women's Health
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 8:38 AM
We've failed to improve the number of babies born at very low birth weight. We got a 'D' in infant mortality. We have a 'D' in getting any prenatal care at all and one in ten Hispanic women don't get any. Big fat 'F' there. We have an 'F' in chlamydia, over all, with rates doubling among African American and Hispanic women. Syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV are all 'F's, too.
And on and on and on.
We're in terrible shape. And I know it's good fun to act like health and morality are the same thing and so if only people would just shape up, but people, seriously, when you look at that report, the numbers attached to those grades indicate systemic problems, not just a bunch of women who can't behave themselves.
Comments (9)
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I know! Let's take away all funding for Planned Parenthood! That will surely improve the lives of women and children in Tennessee.
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Only a D for infant mortality? That's pretty generious. When more infants die in Memphis than any other large city in the US, I'd say that warrants a failing grade for the whole state.
At least everyone's getting mammograms, I guess.
Yeah, but it's pretty depressing that we're all getting mammograms and still getting a shit-ton of breast cancer deaths.
Me, exactly.
I'm going to have to disagree with y'all about Planned Parenthood. They provide a lot of affordable health services to women who couldn't otherwise afford it. The evangelical community seems to be quick to protest, but slow to come up with an actual solution. Although Planned Parenthood may offer abortion as a service, their other services reach far beyond that.
I could have been clearer. That's gallows humor, GE. Me and I both firmly support Planned Parenthood and the good they do bringing healthcare to women who otherwise couldn't get it.
There has been a lot of evidence lately--and please forgive me for not finding the links--showing the growing ineffectiveness on mammograms for breast-cancer prevention and detection.
The conventional thinking is slowly changing (for the better, imho) toward blood testing for genetic and tumor markers. Because, frankly, I think it's high time we found a test that wasn't as barbaric and humiliating as the mammogram.
