Women are in the news these days and for all the right reasons. Women’s day, women’s protections bills, women’s rights, prominent and successful women and other such female related items have received appropriate news coverage. It is obvious that a country cannot progress without involving half of its population. Perhaps those that run Pakistan have finally realised that simple fact. And yes, more the obscurantist religious divines protest, the greater the chance that what is proposed and being said makes eminent sense.

However, there is one aspect of the role women play in society that receives little attention in the media. Women play a vital part in issues pertaining to public health as daughters, siblings, wives and mothers. Educated women perform these functions much better than uneducated women. Even though we tend to give short shrift to the ‘home making’ aspects of a woman’s life; home making does play an extremely important part in the general welfare and the health of the family. Education for girls then not only increases the chance that when these girls grow up they will become a contributing part of the national workforce but also makes sure that they will contribute greatly to the health of their families.

A few years ago when I gave my lectures on cardiac disease to the final year MBBS students, addressing the young women I would often say that even though many of you will never practice medicine but at least what you learn can save lives of your family members. Of course one does not have to attend medical college to learn basic facts that can help in many different ways to improve and prolong lives of family members and even of members in the community.

So, as they say, let me start from the beginning. For women once they are married, education is the single most important factor that can decrease the rampant population growth we see in Pakistan today. In most countries in the world, once women start getting an education and if they start working outside the house, the number of children per family starts to drop. I do not want to visit the questions about the morality of family planning but from an economic point of view, decrease in the growth of our population is necessary for economic improvement.

In terms of health, first then about the health of the mother. In Pakistan, maternal mortality (number of women dying during childbirth) is one of the highest in the world. Three factors are responsible for this. First, early marriages where the female is not physically mature enough to go through childbirth safely. Second is the poor maternal health during pregnancy that is often due to poor nutrition and inadequate or even nonexistent ‘pre-natal’ (before delivery) care. Formal education for women tends to delay the age at which they get married and education helps women to seek appropriate healthcare when they are pregnant including most importantly what are referred to as ‘micro-nutrients’. These include vitamins, Iodine in salt, Iron containing foods and other such things. Third is the non-availability of medical care when needed.

Non-availability of medical care during pregnancy and an emergency during childbirth is obviously a separate problem and amidst all this hoopla about women’s rights and protections, of course little, if any, resources are being diverted for such care. This particular subject requires a separate discussion at a future date. However, what I can say is that the healthcare provided to a pregnant woman is by far the best healthcare investment for it helps both the mother and the unborn child.

The next area where educated women are so important to a family is childcare -- proper immunisation, appropriate feeding, diet, and monitoring of health as the child grows up. In Pakistan some of the major health problems facing children are ‘water borne’ diseases that include things like diarrhoea, typhoid fever, hepatitis and of course the parasites carried in water supplies. Filtering and boiling drinking water, insuring personal hygiene (hand washing after visiting the toilet for example) can prevent many diseases that occur from drinking contaminated water or those that are passed on from person to person.

General cleanliness is also important. And also the sort of diet provided can be important. In many households, childhood obesity is becoming a major health problem. Clearly an uneducated or undereducated woman is unlikely to take care of the sort of things that I have mentioned.

And of course most husbands also depend upon their wives for food. During my years in practice, I have spent much time with the female spouses of my heart patients to explain different aspects of ‘heart healthy’ diets. One of the most important things an educated woman can do in a household is to create a healthy environment both for adults and children. On top of that as the functional head of the household, a woman is also responsible for assuring proper healthcare for all members of the family. And that of course includes herself.

What makes education even more important today is the modern use of social media and widespread use of information technology. So much information is now available on the internet that a vast majority of medical problems can be extensively researched before or after a visit to a doctor. This ‘excess’ of information has advantages as well as disadvantages. For basic health questions of the sort that I have mentioned above, the internet can be a great resource. However when we approach more complicated matters then the internet can cause confusion and make things more difficult. Either way a level of education beyond what literacy is defined in Pakistan is needed to access and utilise the internet.

When we speak of education in general and particularly for women we must think of education to at least a high school level as the very minimum. Here exists an interesting problem. Even though many people from conservative backgrounds believe in educating their daughters, many are unwilling to educate them beyond a basic level of schooling. This is especially true of those that straddle the poverty level and as such the expense of educating children can be a major burden. When the choice then occurs between educating a daughter or a son, often it is the daughter that is deprived. Of course many mothers that are not well educated themselves might not feel inclined to educate daughters beyond a certain level.

As we extol successful women we must also pay homage to all to those women that ‘just’ run households and bring up children. My basic point today is that the reasons for educating girls and women is not just because they can become successful lawyers, doctors or politicians or pursue other professions but also because educated women are much better at running a household.

From a public and a personal health perspective, educated mothers and wives are extremely important. And to be successful at whatever they do, the personal safety of all women and the respect they deserve as equal partners in our lives is also necessary.