HEALTH is a state of complete well-being: physical, mental, and emotional. This definition emphasises the importance of being more than disease-free. Besides, it recognises that a healthy body depends upon a healthy environment and a stable mind.

A woman and her health are closely related to each other because if a woman is of a sound mind and a healthy body, then she can look after her family in the best way possible.

Women’s health is more than just an issue of under-development in Pakistan. Maternity issues are a major cause for the death of both the mother and child during pregnancy.

It is the rural areas that still have to go a long way in securing a healthy life for women.

The primary factors of women's death in the rural areas are negligence regarding health and disease, and lack of proper medical infrastructure.

Reproductive health issues are the leading cause of mortality among Pakistani women, accounting for 20.30 per cent of deaths.

They kill double the amount of women as the next leading cause of mortality, cancer, accounts for 11.30 per cent of deaths.

In Pakistan, many projects to alleviate women's health have gone flat. Women suffer due to either negligence or lack of a health-care system.

The media is playing a vital role in promoting health issues in women.

Most women are illiterate and they do not know how to deal with these problems. Women should take an interest in their health-related problems.

In order to most effectively mitigate the problems of women’s reproductive health in Pakistan, we must focus on the groups of women most at risk: rural, poor and the old.

AYESHA TAHIR Lahore