CEDAW/C/1996/3/Add.1 English Page 3 reproductive health, the health consequences of violence, ageing, lifestylerelated conditions and the work environment. Past meetings of the Commission have concentrated on human rights, adolescent health and the health of ageing women; future meetings will focus on trends affecting women's health and workrelated health hazards. Regional meetings will identify specific priorities in women's health for each region. Women's health and human rights 5. The Global Commission Working Group commissioned a WHO document entitled "Human rights in relation to women's health", which was presented at the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in June 1993. The paper highlights ways in which existing international human rights laws may be better used to protect and promote women's health. Human rights, including the right to health and reproductive rights issues, were also extensively addressed at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in September 1994 and the Beijing Conference. The next stage will be to develop guidance on how the human rights framework can be applied and laws revised or developed so that they protect and promote women's health, including their reproductive health. Existing commissions could play an important role in monitoring the compliance of countries with women's health interests. Furthermore, education and guidance on, for example, how the principles of non-discrimination, informed consent and freedom of choice apply to issues concerning access to existing services will also be needed. 6. WHO, as the technical agency responsible for global public health, seeks to improve the relationships between women and health-care providers, needs and services. Women and men in many countries have little access to health care, particularly if they are poor. Women often face additional barriers to the use of health services as a result of social or cultural practices. Barriers such as time and travel costs may pose greater obstacles for women, as do healthsystem deficiencies. There is a need to improve quality of care by improving the technical competence of health-care providers, as well as their interpersonal skills, and ensuring the availability of essential supplies, equipment and medication. The norms and guidelines for quality must be responsive to women's needs and concerns. 7. Three health issues that reflect the unequal health status of women and which are amenable to substantial and short-term improvement have been selected for priority action in a first phase - nutrition, fertility and maternal mortality. They can be used as indicators to monitor progress on women's health. Nutrition 8. Dealing with the nutritional needs of girls and women throughout their lives implies developing strategies to end discrimination in terms of food allocation and nutritional status. An enormous burden of ill-health is associated with malnutrition, which causes wasting, blindness from vitamin A deficiency, mental retardation from iodine deficiency and widespread iron deficiency anaemia. Malnutrition affects women and girls more than boys, both because of discrimination in feeding and health care and because of the extra /...