Women’s health is too often treated as secondary, delayed, or fragmented, even when the signs are clear. In this powerful piece, Anika Parashar, Founder & CEO of The Women’s Hospital, argues that women’s health is not a privilege or a favour, it is a fundamental right that demands dignity, access and lifelong care.
I have met women who remember every medical detail of everyone in their family, but pause when asked about their own. They know when their child last had a fever, when their parents need medicines, and when their husband’s sugar levels changed. But when it comes to their own pain, bleeding, fatigue, anxiety, breast lump, irregular cycle or sleeplessness, the answer is often, “I thought it was normal.”
Women are not careless about their bodies. They are conditioned to postpone them.
The International Day of Action for Women’s Health is rooted in the idea that women have a right to bodily autonomy, informed choices, safe care and equal access to healthcare. It reminds us that women’s health cannot be separated from dignity, agency, safety and freedom.
And yet, in everyday life, women are still asked to adjust. A young girl is told that painful periods are normal. A woman struggling with fertility is made to feel incomplete. A pregnant woman’s anxieties are brushed aside. A new mother is celebrated for giving birth, but not always supported through recovery. A woman entering menopause is told this is simply ageing. A woman facing violence may carry both physical and emotional wounds in silence.
These are not isolated healthcare concerns. They are signs of systems that have not listened to women deeply enough.
The numbers show how urgent this is. NFHS-5 data show that 57% of Indian women aged 15 to 49 are anaemic, and anaemia among pregnant women stands at 52.2%. These are not just nutrition numbers. They reflect how fatigue, weakness and dizziness in women are often normalised until they become serious.
The life-stage approach has to begin early. A 2024 analysis of NFHS data found that 17.2% of Indian women experienced early menarche, with the average age at menarche declining across birth cohorts. While most women reported their first period between 13 and 14 years, the study also recorded girls reporting menarche as early as age 10. When girls are entering puberty this young, menstrual health, nutrition, body literacy and safe conversations cannot wait until adulthood.
Prevention is another stark gap. A national analysis of NFHS-5 data found that only 1.9% of women aged 30 to 49 had undergone cervical cancer screening, while breast cancer screening stood at just 0.9%. At the same time, India’s maternal mortality ratio has improved to 88 deaths per 100,000 live births, showing real progress, but also reminding us that survival cannot be the only measure of maternal care. Dignity, recovery, continuity and emotional safety must matter too.
Gender-based violence must also be seen as a health issue, not only a legal or social one. NFHS-5 reports that 29.3% of ever-married women aged 18 to 49 have experienced spousal violence. Violence leaves marks on the body, but also on mental health, reproductive health, sleep, confidence, choices and the ability to seek care.
Behind every statistic is a woman who may have waited, been dismissed, not known where to go, or not felt safe enough to speak.
For too long, women’s health has been treated in fragments. Sexual and reproductive health is separated from mental health. Menstrual health is separated from hormonal health. Pregnancy is separated from postpartum recovery. Menopause is treated as an ending, not as a life stage that needs care. Breast health, cervical health, bone health, nutrition, sexual wellbeing and preventive screening often enter the conversation only after something has gone wrong.
But a woman does not live her health in fragments.
A painful period in adolescence, untreated anaemia, fertility struggles, a difficult pregnancy, postpartum depletion, perimenopausal anxiety, urinary concerns, bone weakness, emotional distress or breast symptoms are all part of one continuous life journey. This is why women’s healthcare must move from episodic treatment to lifelong care.
This day also reminds us that women’s health is not only a medical issue. It is also a rights issue. A woman should be able to make informed choices about her body, sexuality, fertility and pregnancy without coercion, shame or discrimination. A mother should receive safe, respectful care before, during and after childbirth. A survivor of gender-based violence should receive care that protects both her body and mind. A woman in menopause should be seen, not dismissed.
Healthcare equity begins with listening. It begins when a consultation is not rushed, when privacy is respected. When women are not judged for their age, choices, fertility journey, body, sexuality, questions or silence. It begins when healthcare systems recognise that women’s biological needs and social realities are deeply connected.
Prevention must become central to this change. Regular screenings, cervical cancer checks, breast examinations, anaemia evaluation, menstrual health conversations, fertility counselling, menopause support, bone health checks and mental health care should not be emergency decisions. They should become part of how women are encouraged and enabled to care for themselves through every decade of life.
We must also stop placing the entire responsibility on women by simply telling them to prioritise themselves. That is easy to say, but much harder to do in systems where access, affordability, stigma, family responsibilities, safety and lack of information still stand in the way.
If we want women to seek care earlier, we must build healthcare systems that enable early care. If we want women to speak openly, we must create spaces where they are not dismissed. If we want women to make informed choices, we must give them information without judgment. If we want better health outcomes, we must stop treating women’s pain as routine. Women have been told to be strong for generations.
Maybe the real change now is not asking women to become stronger. Maybe it is building healthcare that finally listens better.
