Status of Women Committee on May 12th, 2010

[Cicely McWilliam]

First of all, as I said before, Save the Children is a member of the partnership, and we support the notion of an entire support of reproductive care, or health care in totality. What I was saying in relation to the focus of this brief is, again, where the consensus of the organizations who drafted it felt that the value-add for Canada was. Again, the G8 as a whole will take reproductive care up—

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

I am sorry, but I did not read your brief. I did not have time to read it because we just received it. I am asking you a very simple question.

You said you agreed that the full range of care should be provided. I do not agree that women in other countries should receive less care than women here. I am sorry.

Ms. Dendys, I would like your opinion on this.

[Christina Dendys]

I don't disagree with you, in the sense that all women should have access to health. What we were asked to present on was where we thought the value-added was and where we thought we could have tremendous impact in terms of the vast majority of women and children who are dying. We collectively have determined, based on my colleagues' expertise or the groups' expertise, that community care and front line health workers can have a tremendous impact and give tremendous value-added to the continuum of care.

A bigger issue related to what you are talking about in terms of the full range of reproductive choice is that one of the challenges in 90% of African countries is that there is no access to abortion. It's illegal.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Madame Dendys, je comprends--

[Christina Dendys]

I mean, there are ways to address that through the UN, and other ways as well, but I am just saying that we were asked to present here on what we thought our value-add was for Canada. So that's what we're presenting on.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

I understand that you likely receive funding and cannot speak. That is clear.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have one more minute.

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

No, thank you, Madam Chair.

It is pointless for me to be here today after what I have heard.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Madame Demers.

Ms. Mathyssen for the NDP.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have another question in regard to the consensus in terms of the international community. We've obviously been looking at MDG 4 and 5, and we're hearing over and over again that the developed nations of the world are failing to meet the millennium development goals.

What are your perceptions of these goals? Are they attainable, how so, and how do we best explain the failure to meet these goals?

I'd like to start, if we could, with Ms. Snowdon.

[Dr. Anne Snowdon]

I'll comment primarily on the issue of health professional capacity. The health professionals are the delivery system in any country for health care to whoever needs health care. I think, really, one of the major challenges we face going forward in the next five to 10 years—which is very short term—is the availability of qualified health professionals globally, and developed countries will face that challenge just as the developing countries will.

Are they attainable? I think we are in serious risk of not attaining them, for many reasons, but one of the significant ones we face is the capacity to deliver health care through educated, qualified, knowledgeable health workers, whether they are registered nurses, physicians, specialists, or community aid workers. I would see that as one of the major challenges we face.

[Christina Dendys]

I think they're attainable if we want them to be attainable, and I hope that we do, because as my colleague said so eloquently in her presentation, this is a huge global tragedy that exists that 1.4 billion people live on less than $1 a day. For them, a luxury is a shack in a shantytown, or access to a toilet. And that's abysmal and abhorrent to me.

I think it's a lack of political will globally in terms of wanting to put our priorities in other places. Obviously, if we build that political will and we stand up and say this is unacceptable, then, if we can put a man on the moon, surely we can ensure that a child in Africa doesn't die for lack of drugs that cost pennies.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Okay.

I want to talk a bit about family size. In North America, we've just celebrated 50 years of access to birth control, and family size has decreased considerably. It has meant economic security and health benefits. A recent study, in fact, indicated that women who had taken birth control have a greater life expectancy and are at decreased risk for some kinds of cancer. Most importantly, it has given them control over their own fertility. That's not the reality in the developing world in so many instances.

What is the impact of a large family on women, on the family unit, in terms of the resources available to the family unit? You've described some of the reality. There is virtually nothing in terms of resources. What impact does that have on children's susceptibility to malnutrition, disease, living in poor conditions when women cannot control the number of children they have through any means?

[Cicely McWilliam]

I think you've painted the picture, actually. Large families, for poor women, do have those impacts in terms of health, in terms of nutrition, food availability, etc. Clearly, contraception is a very important piece of the maternal, newborn, and child health initiative, and it was something that our group felt very strongly about and has advocated very strongly that it is absolutely imperative for women to be able to space their births, to be able to control their reproductive lives in terms of the number of children they have. We do think that's very important and we do think contraception is an important piece of the maternal, newborn, and child health initiative.

I hope that answers your question.

[Christina Dendys]

I would just add that in study after study, when infant or child mortality rates go down, fertility rates go down as well. I just want to make that connection.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

So do we need, absolutely, to have the full range of opportunities for women to control the size of their families?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

That would have to be a yes or no answer from anyone who wishes to answer, because we've run out of time on this round.

[Christina Dendys]

Yes.

[Cicely McWilliam]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

The final question will be from Ms. Brown, for the Conservatives.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chris, first of all I want to thank you for the opportunity to go to Bangladesh with you last year. It was an amazing, life-changing experience for me, and has given me a whole new perspective on what we need to do globally.

Each one of you spoke about prevention, and prevention being so important. I want to take us to an issue that affects so many of the countries we talk about, particularly in Africa.

I don't know how many of you have read the book Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She talks at length in that book about her experience, where female genital mutilation took place, a custom performed by her grandmother on both her and her sister at the ages of 9 and 11. It's brutal. The stitching done to these young girls afterwards is for pleasurable sex for a male later on. But the effects on those girls--infections, bladder infections--were ongoing in their lifetimes. The psychological and physical impacts of that custom are horrific.

When we talk about prevention and these young girls who are becoming pregnant, the access to medical care is non-existent. But what if you had someone in the village who was a trained professional, at whatever level?

Chris, you and I saw women who were the sasthya sabika in Bangladesh. They were trained in the area of tuberculosis in particular. What would be the benefit of having someone trained in midwifery attending these young ladies in these countries where we are not going to be changing these cultures any time quickly, if ever? That is going to be a long-term strategy. How would such a preventative strategy influence the health of these young girls?

[Cicely McWilliam]

Save the Children actually works on the ground with partners. We do have an FGM program. I want to say it's in Burkina Faso, but I can't remember exactly. Essentially, the most important thing is that the health arguments and the health discussion are often the best ways to discourage this practice and make the link that it harms not only the mother but also often the child. It can lead to stillbirths and a number of problems in birthing the child.

Again, it must come from the community; it can't come from outside. They must make the arguments themselves. By having trained community health workers who understand the health implications of something like this, you often have better results in convincing the community--and convincing other women. We have to remember that it's other women, mothers and grandmothers, who actually not only perform this...

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mutilation.

[Cicely McWilliam]

Yes. I can't even articulate it, actually.

So the education also has to come from other women.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Would we prevent maternal deaths if we had someone there who was able to educate them through these things?