World leaders join to discuss health issues

According to former Penn President Judith Rodin, five women contract HIV every minute -- two-thirds of them in Africa. Sex trafficking is the third-largest source of profit in illegal trade after drugs and weapons. Around the world, women face threats to their health.

With women globally underrepresented in politics and overrepresented in poverty, Penn's schools of Medicine and Nursing organized the first Penn Summit on Global Issues in Women's Health on Monday and yesterday in the Annenberg Center.

Guests from 34 countries convened to talk about "Safe Womanhood in an Unsafe World."

Nursing School Dean Afaf Meleis said that women's health means more than just the physical and mental aspects of welfare. She said that it applies to a woman's total well-being.

The summit opened with a statement by Penn President Amy Gutmann, who said that people everywhere need to tackle the problems of women's health together.

Following Gutmann, summit Chairwoman Rodin spoke about why women's health should be an international concern.

Rodin, who is the current head of the Rockefeller Foundation, said that the trafficking of girls into prostitution as well as human rights, domestic violence and gender inequalities are big threats to women's welfare.

She added that such problems in women's health harm the social and economic development of families, communities and nations around the world.

Despite the grim state of women's welfare, Rodin said that research, policy work and the passion to make a difference should interact to identify how to make the world a safer place.

"With collective action and a collective vision, I am confident we can create a culture of safety for women," Rodin said.

Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson followed Rodin and said plans for safer womanhood need a human rights framework that respects the dignity and rights of each individual.

"This initiative speaks to my heart," Robinson said. "We have an opportunity to meet this challenge. ... There was never such a global focus on" the inequality of women in every continent.

Meleis said she hopes the summit will prompt policymakers to hear women's voices. She said that only then can countries initiate changes for the political, economic and social betterment of women.

Meleis added that the summit will encourage international collaboration and learning about the strategies other leaders have used to enhance the well-being of women.

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