TOP TEN WINS FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH AND RIGHTS IN 2006

Millions of women around the world will lead healthier, more empowered lives because of progress made during 2006. Despite continued opposition by a coalition of conservative forces in the U.S. and internationally, more women will be able to receive accurate and comprehensive health information and care, access scientific and medical breakthroughs, and have the ability to protect themselves against disease and violence.

Going into 2007, these developments present major opportunities—and major challenges—in ensuring that commitments are honored, initiatives are funded, and women can access information, products, and services and realize their full human rights.

>>Full report available here

1. COLOMBIA RECOGNIZES WOMEN'S RIGHT TO ABORTION

In May Colombia's Constitutional Court overturned the country's complete ban on abortion, saying that putting the life of the fetus ahead of the pregnant woman's life is wrong. more>>

2. AFRICAN MINISTERS COMMIT TO SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
African Union health ministers agreed to a far-reaching plan in October to improve women's health and rights. Currently, 1 million African mothers and newborns die annually, and more than 13.3 million women in sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV/AIDS. more>>

3. HEAD OF WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARES WOMEN'S HEALTH
A TOP PRIORITY
In November Margaret Chan was appointed director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). The former top communicable diseases official for the agency, Dr. Chan offered two priorities for her term: "The health of the people of Africa, and the health of women." more>>

4. A NEW WEAPON TO FIGHT CERVICAL CANCER
In June the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Gardasil, a vaccine to protect women and girls against the human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical cancer. About 6.2 million Americans contract HPV annually. more>>

5. WOMEN AND HIV/AIDS BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL PRIORITY
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a far-reaching Political Declaration in June that commits member governments to take new actions to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and address women's vulnerability. more>>

6. INDIA PASSES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN LAW
The Indian Parliament, in late October, enacted a bill to protect women from domestic violence. Currently, every six hours a married woman in India is burned, beaten to death, or driven to commit suicide. more>>

7. U.S. VOTERS REJECT EXTREMIST ABORTION POLICIES
In a landmark victory in November, South Dakota voters rejected a proposition passed by state legislators that outlawed abortion under all circumstances, except to save the mother's life. more>>

8. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION GOES ON SALE OVER THE COUNTER
After a three-year stalemate, the FDA's leadership finally bowed to overwhelming scientific evidence in August—and pressure from Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA)—to permit emergency contraception, or the "morning-after pill," to be sold without a prescription to women 18 and older. more>>

9. PROVING AN IMPORTANT CAUSE OF MATERNAL DEATHS
A landmark study provides conclusive evidence that female genital mutilation (FGM), widely practiced in Africa as well as parts of Asia and the Middle East, puts mothers and their babies at risk, raising by more than 50 percent the likelihood that a woman or her baby will die during childbirth. more>>

10. MICROBICIDES ENTER FINAL TESTING PHASES
Four microbicides, which will enable women to protect themselves against HIV transmission, have reached the final phases of clinical trials and are being tested by women in several countries with high HIV rates, including South Africa, Uganda, and India. more>>

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