Global Women's Health Is More Than Maternal Health: A Review of Gynecology Care Needs in Low-Resource Settings

Women's health care efforts in low-resource settings are often focused primarily on prenatal and obstetric care. However, women all over the world experience significant morbidity and mortality related to cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections, and urogynecologic conditions as well as gynecologic care provision including insufficient and ineffective family planning services. Health care providers with an interest in clinical care in low-resource settings should be aware of the scope of the burden of gynecologic issues and strategies in place to combat the problems. This review article discusses the important concerns both in the developing world as well as highlights similar disparities that exist in the United States by women's age, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Ultimately, this review article aims to inform and update health care providers on critical gynecologic issues in low-resource settings. Target Audience: Obstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians Learning Objectives: After participating in this activity, the learner will be better able to inform and update clinicians on critical gynecologic topics in global health, identify and discuss significant causes of morbidity and mortality in low-resource settings globally, and delineate parallels between global women's health challenges and gynecologic care disparities in the United States.