'We must raise awareness to unknown diseases affecting women'
Photo: Shutterstock
Israeli women live longer but are more susceptible to breast cancer
Report presented to Knesset's Health Committee reveals that while Israeli women's life expectancy is higher than the OECD average, Israel ranks fifth in breast cancer mortality rates.
While Israeli women's life expectancy is higher than the OECD average, Israel ranks fifth in breast cancer
mortality rates, according to a Health Ministry report presented in a recent discussion at the Knesset's Health Committee.
According to the report, the life expectancy of an Israeli woman is 83.9 years compared to an average of 83 years in the world's developed countries. Japan tops the list with 86.6 years, and Mexico is at the bottom with 77.4 years.
The discussion, which focused on women's hardships in dealing with Israel's public health system, was initiated by Knesset Members Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List) and Revital Swid (Zionist Union).
Saving Lives
For the very first time, hundreds of street posters aimed at raising awareness to breast cancer distributed in Israeli cities with large ultra-Orthodox communities, where any discussion of the disease is deemed 'immodest.'
An unsurprising figure is that the average number of children per woman in Israel is the highest among OECD countries - three children. Mexico ranks second with 2.2 children, while the OECD average stands at 1.7 children.
Reports points to average of 30.5 breast cancer deaths per 100,000 women in Israel compared to OECD average of 24.4 (Photo: Shutterstock)
Nonetheless, the number of Caesarean sections in Israel is the lowest among developed countries - 154.3 per 1,000 live births. The OECD average is 258.7. Turkey has the highest Caesarean section rate - 500 per 1,000 live births.
As for breast cancer, the figures reveal that only 70.5 percent of Israeli women aged 50-69 had a mammogram in the past two years. While this number is higher than the OECD average (58.9 percent), it's still much lower than the number of women who had the breast cancer screening in Finland and in Slovenia (83 percent).
In addition, Israel ranks fifth among OECD countries in breast cancer mortality rates - an average of 30.5 deaths per 100,000 women, compared to an average of 24.4 in the world's developed countries. South Korea has the lowest breast cancer mortality rate in the world - 7.6 deaths per 100,000 women.
Misrepresentation in Health Basket Committee
The Knesset members also discussed the female representation in the Health Basket Committee, which is in advanced discussions ahead of submitting its recommendations in about a month.
"It's unthinkable that of 18 members of the Health Basket Committee, only six are women," said MK Osama Saadi (United Arab List).
Dr. Rakefet Bachrach of the National Council for Women's Health added, "The Health Basket Committee consistently rejects our recommendations to include treatments for 'feminine' diseases in the basket."
The discussion was also attended by Lika Cohen, who suffers from hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic skin disease which is more common among women. She described to the MKs her hardships in dealing with the disease: "It's a serious condition. We can't dress and bathe on our own. There is no awareness among doctors, and it takes seven years on average to diagnose the disease. The National Insurance Institute doesn’t recognize us either, although 1 percent of women in the population suffer from this condition."
The committee's acting chairwoman, MK Shuli Mualem-Refaeli (Bayit Yehudi) concluded the discussion by stating that "We must implement a gender outlook in the health system. We must raise awareness to the 'transparent' and unknown diseases which affect women's functioning."
