[Women's health]. / Saude da mulher.

PIP: The National Council of Women's Rights (CNDM) launched a campaign to improve the prevailing low level of health of Brazilian women. This is especially appropriate in view of feminine holidays: March 8 is International Day and April 30 is the National Day of Women. The components of a systematic gynecological assistance program should focus on pregnancy, delivery, and puerperium, maternal nursing, menopause and infertility, and regulation of fertility. Health is a fundamental right, but despite this in 1988 40% of the 2.8 million births occurred via cesarean section, most of which were unnecessary. 20% of women under 25 are sterilized based on disinformation. Maternal morality is extremely high: 100/100.00 births vs. 8-10 in developed countries, and 35 in Costa Rica, 40 in Cuba, 49 in Uruguay, and even in El Salvador it is 71/100.000. Gynecological and obstetrical programs should identify problems related to multiparity, less than 18 months between pregnancies, late or early pregnancies (under 20 or over 35 years of age), and those vulnerable should receive the requisite medical attention. Family planning services have the task of eliminating biological risks of pregnancy, disseminating information about fertility control, considering abortion as a public health issue, and calling attention to the distortion inherent in existing fertility regulations.^ieng