World Health Day 2025: Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures.
Bringing a new life into this world is always a moment of Joy but that wasn’t the case of a random female drug user who had just lost her baby during self-delivery with little strength in her. Looking at the lifeless child with tears in her eyes, she remembered her struggles to access quality healthcare during her pregnancy, the stigma and shame due to lack of social support, her inability to access prenatal care due to financial constraint, her only hope of happiness has just been lost, because of the intense pains and the loss of blood she had experience during the delivery she breath her last.
This is just one of the unseen challenges of vulnerable women during pregnancy and childbirth who have no access to quality healthcare services.
World Health Day 2025, with the theme “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures,” emphasizes the need to prioritize women’s long-term health and end preventable deaths.
Every day, thousands of women and babies die around the globe from preventable causes, simply because they lack access to quality healthcare.
Through the tailored support and interventions provided by the Sexual and reproductive health and harm reduction project for WWUID Funded by ViiV Healthcare Positive Action project through Heartland Alliance Ltd/Gte., we have overtime seen the vulnerability and complex realities faced by these women in remote communities where they are mostly found, which has resulted to unplanned pregnancies resulting from rape, domestic violence, selling sex in exchange for drugs and intoxication which in turn leads to high risk of maternal and newborn health complications among WWUID in our communities.
We advocate for swift action to be taken regarding limited health care services to women and newborns regardless of their lifestyle or location. We must support healthcare workers, invest in community-based care, and promote healthy lifestyles.
Together, we can make a difference and ensure healthy beginnings and hopeful futures for all.
#HeartlandAlliance #ViivHealthcare
