Women's Health Week

National Women’s Health Week is a nationwide observance that begins on Mother’s Day. During the week of May 13 through May 19, individuals, families, communities, and others work to help women learn how to achieve longer, healthier, and safer lives.

This year’s theme is “It’s Your Time!” and encourages women to take simple steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases. Some of these steps include: visiting a health care professional for regular checkups and preventive screenings; getting active; eating healthy; paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress; and avoiding unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking or not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet.

For more information, visit www.womenshealth.gov

May Awareness Campaigns

May is a busy month for awareness campaigns. It’s National Arthritis Awareness Month, Asthma Awareness Month, Healthy Vision Month, and Hepatitis Awareness Month.

Drinking Water Week is May 1-7. Followed by Women’s Health Week, which starts on Mother’s Day (May 8).

As the weather warms up and people spend more time outside, we also run into Lyme Disease Awareness Month and Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Heat Safety Awareness Day is May 27 and Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week is May 23-29.

May is also both High Blood Pressure Education Month and Stroke Awareness Month.

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Tomorrow is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which is coordinated by the national Office on Women's Health. Women make up a quarter of all new HIV infections in Maine. Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the US. In 2010, 20% of people accessing HIV medical case management in Maine were women.

Women have unique issues and special challenges that make it harder for them to prevent HIV or take care of themselves if they have HIV:

• Women's bodies are different. A woman is twice as likely as a man to get HIV infection during vaginal sex (because the lining of the vagina provides a large area of potential exposure to HIV-infected semen). Some diseases or disorders unique to women make HIV more serious.
• Women can give HIV to their babies. Women who have HIV can give it to their babies during pregnancy, delivery, or breast-feeding.
• Women may lack control in relationships: they may be scared to refuse sex or insist that their partner use a condom, or can’t talk to their partner about abstinence, faithfulness, or using condoms.
• Women may not know if their partner is doing things that put him (and therefore her) at risk for HIV.
• Women may not earn much money, which makes it hard for them to pay doctors or even get a ride to their doctor appointments. In extreme instances, some women even end up trading sex for money or drugs.
• Women may be caregivers for others and not feel they have the time to take care of themselves or are unable to find someone to take care of their loved ones when they want to access services. Women may not earn much money, which makes it hard for them to pay doctors or even get a ride to their doctor appointments. In extreme instances, some women even end up trading sex for money or drugs.

What can providers do?

• Emphasize and make HIV testing a routine part of health care. Integrate HIV testing into reproductive health care and other key services.
• Reach out and educate, especially among young women and women of color. Many women want more information and are most likely to get it from doctors, other women with HIV/AIDS, the Internet, television, and radio.
• Decrease mother-to-child transmission by testing, educating, and treating.
• Prevent new infections by working with HIV-infected partners.
• Improve access to care and support services for women, as well as support women’s roles as caregivers and mothers.

HIV test sites in Maine

Women's Health Week coming up

The 11th annual National Women’s Health Week will kick off on Mother’s Day, May 9, 2010 and will be celebrated until May 15, 2010. National Women’s Checkup Day will be Monday, May 10, 2010.

National Women’s Health Week is a week-long health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women's Health (OWH). National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. With the theme “It’s Your Time,” the nationwide initiative encourages women to take simple steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life. Important steps include:

• Getting at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week
• Eating a nutritious diet
• Visiting a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings
• Avoiding risky behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt
• Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress

Learn more about National Women's Health Week.