When we talk of a healthy community, we mean a community where there is less exposure to diseases, less suffering and deaths as a result of these diseases. Around the globe and more so in Africa, there is hardly a perfectly healthy community as most communities still suffer a lot from several disease exposures and lack of medical facilities to improve health care. It is therefore our point of interest to forge ways of improving on the health conditions of our communities. And in doing so, we are taking out time this international day of the woman to pin point on how much role women play in developing healthier communities.

In general, women have the most influence regarding growth in any community and they do not just have this power in fostering economic growth, but more so in promoting healthier communities. The woman is the back bone of a family and her sphere is spread beyond that, Women are the builders of any strong community. As much as there are many things women do in growing their communities, the main focus here is to elaborate on how much role they play in making their communities healthy.

Celebrating International Day of the Woman

Traditionally or customarily, the African woman has always taken the charge of ensuring that her immediate family stays healthy. They take it upon themselves to make sure that the environment in which they leave is always kept clean which goes a long way to prevent intake of diseases by children. These in turn takes a wider effect on the community at large. Making sure that surroundings are kept clean and food and water which goes into the body are purified and well prepared helps prevent diseases such as typhoid, diarrhoea, cholera and more. Malaria too is prevented when environments are clean as there is no room for mosquitoes to breed.

The woman also promotes health by being the first aid of her home, in most African communities; the woman takes it upon herself to nurse children and their husband back to health. They bear the responsibility of taking their sick children and husbands to health facilities, take instructions on how the drugs are to be administered and continue the role of a nurse back at home till treatment is complete.

With the developing nature of the world today, women now occupy post of responsibilities in most health facilities. Many women act as nurses in health cares. Today, in Africa and beyond, not only have risen to the post of medical doctors and practitioners, they also head and lead health cares. They also go a long way in taking part in medical research’s to improve combating diseases such as HIV AIDS, Malaria and other killer disease. Women also take part in going into less developed areas like communities with no health facilities to administer drugs and vaccines to sick people.

Women naturally as mothers have a high tendency of relating to issues such as health as it involves caring for people, so it is no surprise that they are contributing this much in creating a healthier community.