Women`S Health Network: Country Report Denmark
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EWHNET European women's health network Women`s Health Network: State of Affairs, Concepts, Approaches, Organizations in the Women‘s Health Movement Country report Denmark June 1999 EWHNET is a project in the fourth Medium-Term Community Action Programme on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (1996 -2000) and is financially supported by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Author: Karin Helweg-Larsen Mette Madson Dice Centre for Studies in Health and Health Services 25 Swanmollevej, 2100 Copenhagen 0 Denmark Projekt Manager: IFG Dr. Vera Lasch Where to oder: Ute Sonntag Landesvereinigung für Gesundheit Niedersachsen e.V. Fenskeweg 2 30165 Hannover, Germany Phone: 0049 511 350 00 52 Fax: 0049 511 350 55 95 e-mail: [email protected] Copyright: No portion of the contents may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the contributors of this issue. All rights reserved. The following text reflects the authors‘ views. The commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained in that publication. Hannover 1999 Contents: 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................5 2. Health and gender equality...............................................................................................7 2.1 Women and men in the Nordic countries; equal opportunities .........................................7 2.2 Danish policy on gender equality.....................................................................................8 2.3 Danish Equal Status Council ...........................................................................................8 2.4 Statistics..........................................................................................................................8 3. Women in Denmark........................................................................................................ 10 3.1 Fertility and population prognoses................................................................................. 10 3.2 Family structure ............................................................................................................ 11 3.3 Women's labour market affiliation................................................................................. 11 4. State of health among women in Denmark .................................................................... 14 4.1 Life expectancy of women in Denmark ......................................................................... 14 4.2 Age related mortality..................................................................................................... 15 4.3 Cause specific mortality ................................................................................................ 15 4.4 Health behaviour and excess mortality .......................................................................... 16 4.5 Health behaviour, socio-economic factors and mortality................................................ 16 4.6 Morbidity of women in Denmark .................................................................................. 17 4.6.1. Hospital discharges................................................................................................ 17 4.6.2. Self-reported mortality........................................................................................... 18 4.6.3. Gender-specific morbidity ..................................................................................... 18 4.6.4. Morbidity of women in Denmark and health care networks ................................... 18 5. Public health care in Denmark....................................................................................... 19 5.1 Organization of health care in Denmark ........................................................................ 19 5.1.1. Primary health care................................................................................................ 20 5.1.2. Hospital service..................................................................................................... 22 5.2 Administrative levels..................................................................................................... 23 5.2.1. The municipalities ................................................................................................. 23 5.2.2. The Counties ......................................................................................................... 24 5.2.3. The State ............................................................................................................... 24 5.3 The financing of health care services............................................................................. 24 5.4 Management mechanisms in the health care service ...................................................... 26 5.4.1. Home nursing........................................................................................................ 27 5.4.2. Other services........................................................................................................ 27 5.4.3. Pharmaceuticals..................................................................................................... 27 6. Health professions........................................................................................................... 28 6.1 Women in the health professions................................................................................... 28 6.1.1. Medical profession ................................................................................................ 28 6.2 Nurses and paramedics.................................................................................................. 29 6.3 Alternative care............................................................................................................. 29 7. Preventive health care and health promotion................................................................ 30 7.1 Healthy cities network................................................................................................... 30 7.2 Tobacco smoking .......................................................................................................... 31 7.3 Alcohol ......................................................................................................................... 31 7.4 Drug abuse.................................................................................................................... 32 8. Reproductive preventive health care and promotion .................................................... 33 8.1 Guidance of methods of contraception........................................................................... 33 8.2 Induced abortion ........................................................................................................... 33 8.3 Infertility and treatment by IVF..................................................................................... 34 8.4 Pregnancy and maternity ............................................................................................... 34 8.5 Pregnancy and mother shelters ...................................................................................... 35 8.6 Private organizations "Børn og Forældre" [Children and Parents].................................. 35 8.7 Births ............................................................................................................................ 35 8.8 Maternity ...................................................................................................................... 35 8.9 Preventive health care of children.................................................................................. 36 9. Screening - secondary preventive health care............................................................... 37 9.1 Screening for cervix cancer ........................................................................................... 37 9.2 Breast cancer and mammography .................................................................................. 37 9.3 Ovarian cancer .............................................................................................................. 37 9.4 Osteoporose .................................................................................................................. 37 10. Violence against women.................................................................................................. 38 10.1 Women network and shelters......................................................................................... 38 10.2 Public health care to victimised women......................................................................... 38 11. Conclusions...................................................................................................................... 39 1. Introduction Women have for a long period influenced upon political life in Denmark, they were granted right to vote and access to Parliament from 1915. Very early, women organizations got involved in activities to promote women's health. Equal access to gender-sensitised health care has always been a main topic in feministic policy .The Danish National Council of Women was established already in 1899, and included from the very beginning members of the health professions. Today it covers 48 different female organizations, including several female fractions of trade unions, youth organizations and the gender