Health isn’t wealth for more than 60% women

Health isn’t wealth for a lot of women, a new survey has found out. Conducted by GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical giant, it has thrown up some shocking revelations about Indian women’s attitude towards their health.

More than 60% surveyed said wealth and comfort is their top priority. Health and protection from diseases ranked a dismal sixth on their list.

This sort of apathy is particularly dangerous for a disease like cervical cancer, which is the number one cancer among Indian women, affecting 1.34 lakh every year.

Prevention of cervical cancer is only possible through regular check-ups in the form of pap-smear tests. Only 7% said they’re likely to attend a pap-smear appointment, as opposed to 35% who said they are likely to attend a meeting at work and 28% who said they would definitely attend a dinner with friends.

The results reflect what city doctors have been experiencing in their practices. Dr Duru Shah, director of Gynaecworld, says she sends her patients regular reminders of pap-smear appointments.

“Most doctors don’t even go that far. There are some who are regular, but most of my patients ignore the reminders and turn up very irregularly. And 50% of my patients never return for a pap smear,” she says.

This is partly because of lack of awareness among Indian women about cervical cancer. “Most don’t understand the importance of a regular pap-smear check-up. They think gynaecologists are only there for pregnancies. They don’t understand that even though they may be feeling fine, they might have an HPV infection, which, if left untreated, can evolve into cervical cancer,” says Shah.

Women in India are also conditioned, doctors say, to put the family’s welfare before their own. “In our society, women are supposed to look after their husbands and children. Most women put their own health below their loved ones’. They’re either busy with their work or their families and have no time to look after themselves,” she adds.

Dr Rishma Dhillon-Pai, consultant gynaecologist at Lilavati and Jaslok hospitals, believes that there is no concept of regular health check-ups in the country.

“A healthy person going for regular check-ups is almost unheard of. We take our health for granted. The survey results are appalling. I wonder if a woman going through chemotherapy, surgery and various other treatments for cervical cancer would ever say that she would rather attend a dinner with friends than a pap-smear check-up. It’s shocking to know that so many women put wealth and comfort above their health and well-being.”

According to Shah, women need to be more aware of how important their health is. “I often tell my patients, ‘Even if your family is your top priority, you will be able to look after it much better if you’re in good health’.

” As for specifically motivating women to turn up for their pap-smear tests, Shah borrows an idea from the Scandanavian countries. “There, if you miss your pap-smear test or mammogram, you lose some of your government health insurance. We too need such measures to make women take these tests seriously,” she says.

How likely are Indian women to attend the following events:
35% A meeting at work
29% Dinner with friends
12% Beauty appointments
12% Exercise classes
7% Pap smear appointments