Women of W.O.R.T.H., Inc. Signs Declaration of Independence

By Payton McAllister - RNW Staff Reporter on Jul 04, 2010 with Comments 0

The Women of W.O.R.T.H., Inc. non-profit women’s health care clinic in Rome, Georgia today declared independence from unaffordable and poor quality preventive health care for Georgia women.

We declare that the history of the present health care system in Georgia is a history of repeated evils and insufferable injuries to our women. We have noted that although cervical cancer is virtually 100% preventable, many Georgia women are uniformed about the importance of regular screening or cannot afford to have a Pap smear done. If they do have a Pap smear done, they often are managed inappropriately or cannot obtain assistance for diagnosis if their Pap smear returns abnormal. Our women’s rates of HIV and STD’s are rising rapidly and at the same time it is more difficult to get an affordable exam for STD’s in Georgia. Rape survivors in Georgia may not even have consistent or affordable access to STD screening or medication to prevent HIV.

In spite of these dismal facts, Georgia women consistently report that their insurance does not cover preventive health care. Or if uninsured, women are overcharged at our public health departments for STD screening and Pap smears and many more effective methods of contraception are not available to them at all. Many women have reported that they have been completely refused a Pap smear, and thus contraceptive access, if they have had a history of an abnormal Pap smear.

These facts led the Women of W.O.R.T.H., Inc. clinic, a non-profit women’s health care clinic in Rome, Georgia to declare a Declaration of Independence from inaccessible preventive health care. The signers declare, “That our women of Right ought to be free from preventable diseases, our education should be comprehensive, and our health care should be free of political discourse, That preventative health care reduces the economic burden of the state and should be readily accessible, and affordable.”

In part, the Declaration calls for recognition of the problems for Georgia women, the establishment of a Coalition to address the problems and to educate the public and for enforcement of regulations already in place which forbid public health agencies from denying care to women if they can’t pay. The full document is available at http://alturl.com/5mda7. For more information about the clinic or to make appointments, please contact the clinic at (706) 232-3408 or by e-mail at info@womenareworthit.org

Filed Under: Health & Environment