NOW Foundation Makes a WISH for Women's Health

by Lesley Nicole Ramsey, Conference Manager

Assistant Surgeon General Dr. Susan Blumenthal will be the keynote speaker at the Women's International Symposium on Health (WISH). She will lead off the day Monday, Oct. 16, with an overview of women's health worldwide.

Health care professionals, activists and policy makers from around the world will meet in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 14?16, 2000, for WISH. Sponsored by the NOW Foundation, the Women's Institute on Sport and Education (WISE), and the White House Millennium Council, WISH will bring together an international cadre of feminist advocates to address the serious health issues women face.

"The majority of women and girls around the world do not have access to adequate health care," says NOW Foundation Secretary/Treasurer Karen Johnson. "As a result, death, disability and disease rates are disproportionately high in the female population. With WISH, we will provide a forum for planning solutions to address the dire state of women's well?being worldwide."

Laurel Dagnon, executive director of WISE, called for renewed efforts to focus WISE, called for renewed efforts to focus international attention on women's health: "The past has been marked by brave women speaking in clear, loud voices. The new millennium brings a new blending of voices from all over the world. These new voices share an important message: women's health must be a priority."

Participants in the symposium will develop understanding and action plans for such diverse issues as family planning, breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, environment-related illnesses, access to health care and increased global living standards. They will have the opportunity to network with health care professionals, to educate themselves on women's health problems and to develop strategies to improve women's health. A preliminary schedule of events includes opportunities to earn continuing medical education credits in workshops on domestic violence, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Invited organizations include the World Health Organization, the American Women's Medical Association, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

WISH is scheduled to coincide with the World March of Women 2000 on Oct. 15, in Washington, D.C. As part of this international action, women in more than 155 countries will march in solidarity, demanding an end to violence against women and women's poverty worldwide.

To register for WISH, or for more information, call Dr. Patricia Jarrett of WISE at 724-738-2030, or Lesley Ramsey of NOW Foundation at 202-628-8669, x.108.