Rural Women’s Health Problems In Khyber Pukhtun Khwa Of Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is a third world country, with more than 60% rural population, confronted with a lot of social problems including poor health of the masses particularly women, illiteracy and low quality education, poverty, misgovernment and corruption at all levels, weak institutions and lack of good governance. Consequently, the public suffers due to all these problems. Women suffer more than men in all walks of life particularly education and health delivery services which are either not available to them or denied to them on state level. This article is based on an empirical study conducted in the North-West Pakistan known as Khyber Pukhtun Khwa (previously NWFP) to know about the rural women health problems of the poorest province of a poor country. Results shows that the province is not only poor, but also has the characteristic of large families, high fertility rate, a harsh culture towards women, non-availability of medical facilities making women in particular to resort to shrines and Mullahs for spiritual treatment and so on.