Women have been tasked to pay attention to their health especially those within their control and invest in gaining knowledge on issues around their health. The need to change the narrative and reality of women’s health being under researched, underfunded and under prioritised was also highlighted.

This was at Banking on Women’s Health Conference organised by Healthtracka, themed “Women’s Health Gap: The Silent Battles that Hold Women Back”, held in Lagos. The event was attended by policy makers, researchers, medical professionals and women of all ages. It also saw the launch of The State of Women’s Health Report.

Founder of Healthtracka, Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson, said the report gathered data from across all states in Nigeria on women’s health. She emphasised that women’s health is a national and economic issue, which needs proactive steps to resolve its challenges. Stating that women’s health should be moved from the margins to mainstream and treated as priority, she explained that the event represented a defining moment in the movement to centre women’s health in investment, innovation and policy conversations across Africa.

“How do you build a nation, an economy and a workforce on the back of women who are silently suffering? How do you tell women to do great exploits without actually taking care of their health?

“Today, we flip the script. Women deserve to be well. They deserve to be bold, heard and prioritised. This conference is a movement and through open conversations and collaborative action, we are driving changes that put women’s health where it belongs- at the centre of investment, policy and innovation,” she said.

Deputy Director, Family Health, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rodio Diallo, said that deaths caused by child birth underscores the imperative to act swiftly, decisively and collaboratively, to preserve the lives of women.

She explained that the foundation is intensifying efforts to address women health challenges through strategic investment and partnership. “We are supporting the expansion of life-saving interventions such as the postpartum emerge bundle, which is the most effective way to reduce the risk of childbirth. To prevent severe bleeding after childbirth and the scale-up of the multiple micro-nutrient supplements to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes.

Head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Medicine, UNILAG, Professor Bosede Afolabi, stated that good funding is necessary to do good research. She therefore called on all levels of governments to be deliberate and intentional about research especially into women’s health, stressing that society must contribute to women’s health research to restore the country’s economy.