Actress Meg Ryan has been volunteering with CARE, an organization that provides education, emergency relief, health, clean water, nutrition, economic development and other aid to the poor and impoverished for the last few years. Meg has been participating in the Safe Motherhood program, which helps women, and helps to reduce the number of maternal mortalities that occur regularly - most of which are preventable. In fact, nearly 500,000 women a year die from pregnancy complications.
As part of the humanitarian relief effort, Meg traveled to India with CARE. India has the second-largest number of people suffering from HIV and AIDS, but they are not allowed to discuss the disease. Even though it’s forbidden, Meg met a woman who is trying to teach others HIV/AIDS. CARE has a support group that allows women to talk about whatever they want. Discussing her experiences on the Oprah Winfrey show, Meg said, “All the women in the village go just to talk about themselves or life, their kids, reproductive health, where they can get immunized.”
The majority of at-risk women are in the poorest parts of the world (the parts CARE caters to), where death from pregnancy complications are about 1 in 6. On the other hand, in places like Northern Europe the death rate from pregnancy complications in more like 1 in 30,000. Of the CARE group, Meg said, “The idea of a female community is so powerful. Women in isolation are divided and conquered, when women are together it is really one of the most powerful things on this planet.”
In order to efficiently help women who are at risk while pregnant, CARE has several changes they want to make, and in order to do so, they need both money and the support of congress. The first thing CARE would like to increase is the amount of money for child and maternal health which will provide more of the materials necessary, even worldwide.
Be The First To Comment
Related Post
Please Leave Your Comments Below