Health not for granted

Hi everyone! In my last 2 posts, we’ve discussed something that addresses a part of mental health and I would like to focus on the physical health of different genders and how their relationship with the environment is affected in this post.

Personally, I am privileged enough to say that I do not have to constantly worry about my health because healthcare is pretty accessible, and because I am not exposed to much environmental health risks here in Singapore. I also do not have to expose myself to potentially hazardous materials or environments to ensure my survival, and I get to take classes online from the comfort and safety of my own home during this pandemic. Sadly, not many can say the same, especially when they come from less affluent countries and are women.

In this report, it was stated that health issues found in women are often due to environmental factors that often encompass their jobs and physical activities if not gender-specific. Upon reading this, I remembered one of the first lessons of ENV1101 where our professor showed us images of women and children in kitchens and huts when discussing how women in rural areas were disproportionately affected because of their roles of caring for the family.

In those situations, women are expected to take care of the homes, children, and the elderly while the men work elsewhere. Their “job” scopes would also include fetching resources like firewood and freshwater and cooking. Particularly in the case of cooking, women are potentially exposed to higher concentrations of harmful gases like carbon monoxide from cooking with biomass fuels. According to a study, women and their children who live in rural areas see almost 2-3 times the chance of developing respiratory diseases than men which are exacerbated by long-term exposure to these gases.

I cannot imagine how life must be when your health is jeopardized by taking care of your family. My sister has a hard enough time dealing with asthma in Singapore where we have good ventilation systems and do not cook with biomass fuels, much less in rural and developing areas where infrastructure may not allow for health considerations. 🙁 I feel like women living in rural areas would have a love-hate relationship with the environment. On one hand, it sustains their families but on the other, it contributes to their declining health which they themselves may not fully understand even if they do see the effects.

Indeed, it is hard to diagnose a problem when you do not show its corresponding symptoms especially in the case of women. Some medical researchers have based knowledge of illnesses and prescribed medication on the male body, applying the same results on a female body even though men and women are biologically different.

However, our bodies are different and our symptoms may not present the same! In such a male-centric environment where health is concerned, it seems difficult for women to be able to foster a good relationship with the environment when the brunt of its health risks are felt by them and not dealt with properly.