CEDAW/C/1996/3/Add.1 English Page 2 Annex REPORT TO THE COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN ON THE WORK OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION IN THE AREA OF WOMEN, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT Introduction 1. The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in September 1995 recognized the importance of women's health for the health of families and communities and the social and economic development of societies, and as a human right of women. There is increasing awareness, within the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as outside it, that neglect of women's health concerns stems from a failure to recognize and take account of their unique health needs, which are determined by both the physiological differences between men and women and also by culturally determined attributes that lead to social and economic inequalities between the sexes, i.e. gender. This neglect has a cumulative negative impact on women's health. The gender differences in nutritional status, disease prevalence, access to and quality of health-care services for women exemplify the persistent and pervasive effects of discrimination on women's health status. 2. The 1992 WHO technical discussions on "Women, health and development" highlighted the impact of gender inequalities on women's health. WHO's position paper on Women's health prepared for the Fourth World Conference on Women points out some of the progress made in women's health, but also the many constraints that still face many millions of women in achieving good health. It reviews the factors affecting women's health and identifies the major health issues for women, discusses WHO's role in women's health and gives an overview of the work of WHO in women's health and areas for future action. An executive summary of the position paper also exists in the six official languages of the United Nations. Global Commission on Women's Health 3. The Global Commission on Women's Health was established in 1993 in response to World Health Assembly resolution WHA45.25 on Women, health and development, emanating from the technical discussions on women's health. The Global Commission's role is to promote the adoption and implementation of effective measures at all levels for improving women's health; to make policy makers aware of women's health issues by using sex-specific disaggregated data on women's socio-economic and health conditions; and to advocate for promotion of women's health issues within all development plans and at the international level. A working group was established in WHO to coordinate follow-up on this resolution and serve as secretariat. This group has harnessed the expertise of WHO's technical programmes at all levels, and of other relevant agencies of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations. 4. At its first meeting in March 1993, the Commission agreed on the importance of approaching women's health issues within an overall framework of human rights. It further agreed to focus on six priority areas: nutrition, /...