About 310,000 female-led households have medical insurance; while 30,000 of them have been covered by the Housewives Insurance Scheme over the past three years.

Ministry of Welfare and Social Security is mulling a proposal to cede management of the Housewives Insurance Scheme to an insurance company, director general of State Welfare Organization’s Office for Women and Family Affairs unveiled.
As reported by IRNA, Parviz Zareie stated that SWO had put forth the new proposal to the ministry.
Putting the number of women-headed households which are currently under SWO coverage at 147,000, he noted that cases of 67,000 other female-led families are in the process to be brought under SWO umbrella.
About Norouz bonuses to be paid to these families on the occasion of the new Iranian year (to start March 21), the official stated that close to 160,000 rials would be paid to single-member households.
The amount considered for families of two or more is 360,000 rials and above, he added.
According to Zareie, schemes to empower single mothers top the organization’s agenda.
The official named implementing self-employment plans, providing assistance for launching cooperatives as well as helping these women and their skilled family members to get employed as programs intended to empower this group.
Zareie further said that 310,000 female-led households have medical insurance; while 30,000 of them have been covered by the Housewives Insurance Scheme over the past three years.
Highlighting that such women are entitled to life-time pensions, the official predicted that the allowance would increase as of next year, provided the Majlis endorses the 2006-07 budget bill.

Rigoberta Menchu was born on January 9, 1959 to a poor Indian peasant family near the township of Uspantan in the QuichŽ ethnic region of the western highlands of Guatemala. In her early years, she helped with the family farm work. She soon became involved in social reform activities through the Catholic Church, and became prominent in the women’s rights movement when still only a teenager. Such reform work aroused considerable opposition in influential circles, especially after a guerilla organization established itself in the area. The Menchu family was accused of taking part in guerrilla activities and Rigoberta’s father, Vicente, was imprisoned and tortured for allegedly having participated in the execution of a local plantation owner. After his release, he joined the recently founded Committee of the Peasant Union (CUC).
In 1979, Rigoberta, too, joined the CUC. That year her brother was arrested, tortured and killed by the army. The following year, her father was killed when security forces in the capital stormed the Spanish Embassy where he and some other peasants were staying. Shortly afterwards, her mother also died after having been arrested, tortured and raped. Rigoberta became increasingly active in the CUC, and taught herself Spanish as well as other Mayan languages than her native Quiche. In 1980, she figured prominently in a strike the CUC organized for better conditions for farm workers on the Pacific coast, and in 1981 she was active in large demonstrations in the capital. She joined the radical 31st of January Popular Front, in which her contribution chiefly consisted of educating the Indian peasant population in resistance to massive military oppression.
In 1981, Rigoberta Menchu had to go into hiding in Guatemala, and then flee to Mexico. That marked the beginning of a new phase in her life: as the organizer abroad of resistance to oppression in Guatemala and the struggle for Indian peasant peoples’ rights. In 1982, she took part in the founding of the joint opposition body, The United Representation of the Guatemalan Opposition (RUOG). In 1983, she told her life story to Elisabeth Burgos Debray. The resulting book, called in English, “I, Rigoberta Menchu“ is a gripping human document which attracted considerable international attention. In 1986, she became a member of the National Coordinating Committee of the CUC, and the following year she performed as the narrator in a powerful film called “When the Mountains Tremble“ about the struggles and sufferings of the Maya people. On at least three occasions, Rigoberta has returned to Guatemala to plead the cause of the Indian peasants, but death threats have forced her to return into exile.
Over the years, Rigoberta has become widely known as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation, not only in Guatemala but in the Western Hemisphere generally, and her work has earned her several international awards.
She is a Guatemalan leader internationally known for her work in the promotion of the defense of human rights, peace and Indigenous Peoples’ rights. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, becoming the first indigenous and the youngest person ever to receive this distinction.
She was appointed UN special ambassador for the UN Decade for Indigenous Peoples, 1995-2004.

A specialist warned against an increase in the incidence of breast cancer worldwide including Iran, putting the number of new cases annually at 1.1 million globally.
Dr. Azadeh Joulaei, secretary of the Tehran Congress of Breast Cancer (Feb. 17-19), added one fourth of the patients die of the cancer per annum.
She insisted that specialists in the field need to keep abreast of latest diagnostic and treatment methods to be able to fight the disease and save more lives.
“Mastectomy, can have an enormous effect on a woman’s body image and on her own sense of private and sexual life. Most women shun breast cancer mammogram examinations, because of anxiety and fears relating to mastectomy,“ she elaborated.
Joulaei talked about new reconstructive techniques which help attain the physical appearance of the breast after surgery and can curb side effects of treatment.
“Even in conditions where it is needed to remove the whole breast, it is possible to reconstruct tissues during or after mastectomy,“ she said.
In a fax to Iran Daily, the secretary invited specialists, GPs, nurses, midwifes, radiologists and medical assistants to take part in the congress.
The new concept in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer is based on multidisciplinary approach and teamwork among surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, oncologists, gynecologists, nuclear medicine and radiotherapists and also family physicians. For this reason, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences has decided to organize annual breast cancer confabs in Tehran.
The first such congress is going to be held with the collaboration of Iran Atomic Energy Organization, Health Ministry, Medical Registration Board and the Office for Women and Family Affairs. The congress, attended by a host of international specialists, would focus on sentinel lymph node biopsy.

Latest statistics suggest that some 4,000 war disabled women are living in the country.
Of the total women who sustained injuries during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, 40 percent suffer from more than 25 percent impairments; while 18 percent have disabilities between 35 and 50 percent.
About 8 percent of the total physically-challenged female population has over 50 percent disabilities, ISNA reported. These women bear serious physical impairments including blindness. The majority are between 25 and 35 years of age.
Studies show that most of these women were injured in the course of Iraqi bombardments of their cities. However, some were maimed in direct military combats.
A great number of war-disabled women live in border provinces. In excess of one fifth (807) of them are citizens of the southwestern Khuzestan province, which is deprived of adequate educational and medical facilities.
A host of these women who inhabit the underprivileged province grapple with financial hardships, not to mention the psychological trauma they suffered during the eight-year war.

Local women in Tafresh, Markazi province (Photo by Mehdi Khoshnevis)

Health Ministry announced women rescue workers including physicians, technicians and nurses would be hired for the emergency medical network throughout the country as of next year (starting March 21), IRNA quoted head of the ministry’s Medical Emergencies and Natural Disasters Center as saying.
Farzad Panahi said the aim of the plan is to ease shortage of workforce in the emergency medical sector and also observe religious issues while offering rescue services to injured women.
“Presently there are six women physicians in Tehran Medical Emergency Station. Female emergency medical technicians are also active in some other cities including Mashhad,“ he added.
The official further stated the center is short of 1,000 personnel by the end of this Iranian year, adding 3,200 recruits are needed for the emergency network per annum.
According to Panahi, there should be 14,000 paramedics in the emergency network by the end of the Fourth Development Plan (2005-2010).

Girl athletes who drink one glass of fizzy soft beverage daily are five times more likely to develop osteoporosis than those who have a sedentary lifestyle, a nutrition expert said.
In an interview with Mehr news agency, Seyyed Ali Keshavarz expanded that while sportswomen need a higher calcium intake compared to non-athletes, carbonated soft drinks disturb the absorption of calcium, potassium and magnesium.
He recommended that people, especially young female teenagers, seriously avoid drinking fizzy soft beverages.
The expert cited statistics released by Agriculture Jihad Ministry based on which per capita dairy product consumption is between 80 and 85 liters in Iran. In comparison, the Dutch consume 480 liters annually.

Heartburn is really just a teaspoon or two of stomach juices backwashing up from the stomach and into the esophagus. Acid reflux, as it’s known, can carve deep ulcers, lead to narrowing or even obstruction of the esophagus and cause bleeding.
Usually, women and men are equally prone to heartburn. Pregnancy, in fact, is a double whammy for heartburn--higher hormone levels relax the muscle that’s supposed to keep stomach acid where it belongs, while your growing baby presses upward on your stomach.
Symptoms of acid reflux--a burning sensation, chest tightness and a feeling of warmth sweeping upward into the throat--can mimic a heart attack. In fact, doctors say you should visit the emergency room, pronto, if the pain is new or especially intense. Women, like men, should go to the hospital with any strong chest pain.
If it’s just heartburn, your own habits and tastes could be the cause. Fat, alcohol, smoking and even mints and chocolates can weaken the muscle, called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Carrying extra weight around your midsection and wearing tight clothing can also make the LES work less efficiently. Meal size and timing also play a role.
For quick relief, nothing beats an antacid. But it’s not a long-term solution. See your doctor if you’ve been popping antacids for more than two weeks.
For stubborn heartburn, treatment may include a prescription drug to slow the production of stomach acid. In about 90 percent of cases, that’s enough. But some people need surgery to strengthen the LES muscle.
Here are some tips:
-Reach for the right antacid.
-Choose foods wisely. Among the bad guys are onions, chocolate, peppermint, spearmint and any fatty foods.
-Be an early bird. Sitting down to supper three to four hours before bedtime ensures that your stomach will be empty by the time you go to sleep.
-Go small and frequent. Pregnant patients are advised to eat four or five small meals a day instead of three big ones.
-Pick a papaya. This tropical fruit contains papain, an enzyme that soothes the stomach.
-Hold your head up. Raising the head of your bed on cinder blocks or 6- to 12-inch wooden blocks puts gravity on your side in the nighttime battle against heartburn.
-Lie on your left. If you must lie down after a big meal but are prone to heartburn, try lying on your left side.
-Deflate your spare. Extra weight around the midsection acts like a belt or a too-tight skirt, squeezing the esophagus and making the LES relax.
-Banish the butts.
-Deny that drink. Alcohol can also make the LES work inefficiently.
-Loosen up. Girdles, tight belts and constricting waistbands increase the pressure on your abdomen and weaken the LES.
-Consider your medicines. Don’t overlook aspirin, as well as the prescription anti-asthma drug theophylline, anticholinergic medicines used to treat bowel spasms, heart medications like calcium channel blockers, and antidepressants. All can weaken the LES.

Absatou Saidykhan of Forum for African Women Educationalists-Gambia (FAWEGAM) revealed that about four million women and girls are being trafficked around the world every year for either sexual purpose or for cheap labor, www.allafrica.com reported.
Speaking at a two-day symposium organized by Group for Africa Peace on the theme “Breaking the Shell with the Effort to Prevent Violence against Women and Children,“ Saidykhan said that the trafficking of women and girls is the worst type of women and girls rights’ violation, thus governments and NGOs should join hands to combat this horrible act.
“Those engaged in trafficking women and girls for prostitution or cheap labor for their personal economic gains are the worst people of the world and have no mercy for human lives. These people are the real violators of human rights and the world should come together to track them down,“ she urged adding that it is not only men who traffic women and girls, but also women themselves traffic their fellow women and sisters or daughters.
The gender activist also noted that in countries where there is war, women and girls are the most vulnerable as many of them are raped or subjected to inhuman acts.
“Women and girls are being forced into the war field or they will act as concubine for the war lords. During the genocide in Rwanda, more than 500,000 women and girls were raped, and in other parts of the world women and girls are being raped every hour,“ she revealed.
“The world must double their efforts to help those who are vulnerable as all persons are born equal; we are all equal in the eyes of Allah; why are women and girls then less honored?“ she asked.