Quality health care for women: a global challenge

This paper discusses barriers to the provision of high quality care from the perspectives of the health system and female clients, and interventions that have been developed to overcome these barriers. These interventions are in the area of reproductive health, where most attention to women's health has focused; they consist mainly of assessment tools that can be used by peripheral health workers and rural women themselves. The paper argues that in nonreproductive health generally, there is a dearth of information on the biological and social determinants and consequences of infection and disease from a gender perspective. Recommendations are made for further research on quality of care and for practical interventions with application to women's health, both within and outside the reproductive context.