3 - Must We Ask What a Woman Is Worth?

Summary

No parent, partner, or child could quantify the worth of a beloved female family member lost to cervical cancer. And yet, with today’s economic realities – and most particularly in countries that struggle to meet citizens’ basic health needs – quantifying a woman’s financial benefit to her family and community becomes necessary to justify the cost of eradicating this disease. A senior health economist with the World Health Organization estimates that for every dollar spent on cervical cancer prevention, women’s paid and unpaid contributions return $26 USD to an economy: a return rate of twenty-six to one – impressive for any health intervention. Yet for varying political, social, and cultural reasons, most countries are reluctant to spend sufficient funds on female reproductive health care. These financial obstacles to eliminating cervical cancer won’t change until each unique society is willing to question how it values its women. Eliminating death by a preventable cancer makes intuitive sense. But until those sentiments translate into public policy and equitable, affordable health care for all women, lofty ideas are not enough to save lives.