Policy Submission Reflecting Women's Health Care Approach - Essay Example

POLICY SUBMISSION REFLECTING WOMEN’S HEALTH CARE APPROACH Student’s Name Course code and name Instructor’s name Learning Institution City, State Date of submission Question: Are there Health issues related to alcohol use among women between 18-25 years 1. Introduction and background This paper tries identifying alcohol use as a serious health issues among women between 18-25 years. This issue has been chosen for investigation because women within this age group have been discovered to be the most addicted to alcohol (Bloomfield, Grittner, Kramer & Gmel, 2006). In addition, most hospitals have reported that there is an increase in the number of women admitted as a result of alcohol-related illnesses. Surprisingly, most of these women have been found to be aged between 20 to 25 years. Furthermore, there are diverse effects that have resulted as a result of consumption of alcohol among women. These effects contribute to considerable risk to health of women and mortality rate. The concern is that ethanol concentration in women’s blood rises higher than in men by consuming similar quantities of alcohol. The most serious concern is that there are other health implications that have resulted into the need to formulate policies that control alcohol consumption among women (Camargo, 1999). These include alcohol dependence which has resulted into psychological impacts in women and contributing to liver diseases within a short period of drinking. Another problem associated with alcohol consumption in women is reproductive problems and breast cancer. These are serious health problems that have contributed to high mortality rates among women within the age group of 18-25 years. It has been found that pregnant women who drink alcohol are likely to have children who have problems in neurodevelopment as a result of impacts of alcohol on the development of the child (Chander & McCaul, 2003). Furthermore, it has been found that pregnant women who consume high amounts of alcohol have stunted fetus that can have neuropsychological and behavioral problems during birth. Other problems associated with women aged 18-25 years consuming alcohol include domestic violence and disagreements with partners. When women are drunk, they are also prone to sexual assault such as rape due to their inability to think normally and reasonably when drunk. As a result, it has been necessary to ensure the policies are formulated which regulate alcohol consumption among women with the focus on controlling these negative impacts. This paper presents a number of policies that have been proposed and the impact they would bring towards achievement of positive life for women involved in alcohol consumption. 2. Analysis of the Policies 2.1. Current drinking Policies An example of current drinking policy is the recommended amount of alcohol that can be consumed by men and women in different countries. These standards vary from one country to another (Chandra, Krishna, Benegal & Ramakrishna, 2003). However, it contributes to control in the quantity of alcohol consumed by an individual. However, the general tendency of this policy is to recommend no alcohol consumption altogether. Another policy that controls alcohol consumption is the recommendation of drinking on the basis of dietary information, as a strategy for establishing dietary requirements of alcohol consumption by various sections of the population (Chen et al. 2002). This policy ensures consumers are aware of the amount of alcohol needs to sustain body functions despite being a non-alcoholic drinker. It is aimed at encouraging people to be responsible drinkers. Another current policy that has been associated with control of alcohol consumption is the warnings of potential illnesses as a result of consumption of alcohol such as liver cirrhosis and cardiovascular diseases (Cooper, 2002). This has been accompanied with the right amount of alcohol that needs to be consumed to cope with these conditions. Another current policy towards alcohol consumption is the requirements by the Departments of health in various countries to provide education and awareness to the public concerning the dangers of alcohol consumption and the need to avoid excessive alcohol consumption (Cyr & McGarry, 2002). It also involves the kinds of activities that people should not be involved in when under the influence of alcohol such as driving or riding a motorbike. This is aimed at ensuring the public are aware of the exact amounts of alcohol they need to consume at a particular time thus avoiding possibilities of excessive consumption of alcohol as a result of ignorance about its negative impacts. Current drinking policies also include recommendations to special groups of people such as women, people with disabilities and the older people (Hibell, et al. 2004). For example, due to the fact that men and women have different sensitivity as a result of alcohol consumption, the recommended minimum amount of alcohol for women has been adjusted to a different amount from that recommended for men. In addition, there are policies regarding the minimum age of drinking where people of a particular age group have been prevented from drinking alcohol (Klatsky, 1999). This has been aimed at preventing young people from drinking alcohol because of the assumption that they cannot be responsible in their drinking habits. 2.2. New Policies for women between 18-25 years The above policies provide a guideline for the manner in which alcohol consumption should be done but has a number of limitations such as not specifying the types of alcohol that need to be consumed, the manner in which pregnant women need to respond to alcohol consumption or how education on medical impacts of alcohol consumption can be carried out (Thadhani, et al. 2002). This has resulted into the need to formulate new policies with the target of enabling women develop good drinking habits. One of the policies that could result into control of excessive alcohol consumption among women is a reform of the minimum amount of alcohol consumption level required by women by establishing various kinds of alcohol to be consumed by women and some to be consumed by men (Mukamal et al. 2001). This policy should require manufacturers of alcohol to provide the desired content of alcohol in the drinks for women so that when they us the drinks, they are at less risk of suffering from the consequences of alcohol consumption. Any woman who violates this policy by draining alcohol meant for men should be liable for prosecution. Alcohol manufacturers will be directed to manufacture alcohol that can be consumed by women without contributing to health impacts on them when they consume the expected amounts. Another policy that will be significant in addressing alcohol consumption in women is prohibition of pregnant women from consumption of alcohol of any kind until they give birth. This will be followed by educating them on the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy (Cyr & McGarry, 2002). This policy will also require prosecution of any pregnant woman involved in consumption of alcohol. Furthermore, a new policy needs to be created on education of women in various parts of the country on regular basis concerning the dangers of alcohol consumption such as the associated diseases and domestic violence (Chander & McCaul, 2003). This is based on the fact that women are the most responsible people in family affairs and when they are drunk, it is not easy for them to manage their families properly. In addition, a policy will be formulated which protect the interest of women concerning alcohol consumption. For instance, a policy that determines prosecution of people who will be involved in violation of women’s rights by taking advantage of their vulnerability when they are drunk (Chen et al. 2002). Finally, a policy will be formulated during times of the day that women are allowed to drink alcohol. This policy will also specify the kind’s alcohol that should be purchased by women following the directive to manufacture alcohol brads for men and those for women. 2.3. Impacts of the policies on the philosophies of women’s health movement The policy of coming up with types of alcohol that can be consumed by women will ensure women consume alcohol of the right concentration. Consequently, impacts such as getting intoxicated quickly will be reduced and women will be able to perform their duties irrespective of having taken alcohol (Allen et al 2009). It will also ensure possible illnesses resulting from excessive alcohol such as liver diseases and impacts on pregnancy are reduced. In addition, controlled alcohol consumption will ensure there is no physiological change as a result of consumption of alcohol or dependence on alcohol. The policy that prohibits pregnant women from consuming alcohol will ensure the negative impacts on pregnancy such as impacts on the fetus’ neurological and possible abortion are eliminated. Consequently, they will be able to give birth to healthy babies (Bloomfield, Grittner, Kramer & Gmel, 2006). In addition, various disabilities resulting from impacts of alcohol on the fetal development will be controlled. Breast cancer is an illness that affects women as a result of excessive consumption of alcohol. The policy that regulates the quantity of alcohol consumption will contribute significantly towards reduction in cases of breast cancer thus improving the life span of most women between the age of 18 and 25 years. This is because, there will be little interference with women’s metabolism, and thus ensuring physiological processes in the body are not interfered with. Another impact of policies regulating consumption of alcohol among women aged between 18-25 years is that it will ensure cases of sexual assault and domestic violence are reduced because they will be less intoxicated to be susceptible to sexual assault (Chander & McCaul, 2003). This will be possible because they will be able to defend themselves in cases of sexual assault. In domestic violence, it will be possible for women to remain sober so that they can solve domestic problems without disagreements. These will ensure the feminism dignity of women is preserved while their empowerment to perform their duties is preserved. The policy that protects women from being harassed or prosecution of people involved in harassing women as a result of being drunk will ensure the rights of women to alcohol consumption is protected and they are empowered to live in the society as other people who drink alcohol but still acceptable in the society. 2.4. Conclusion This set of new policies will contribute towards effectiveness in policies that regulate alcohol consumption in women. This is because it will result into strengthening of the weaknesses experienced in the current policies for consumption of alcohol among women. Women will also be beneficial to the policy in a number of ways. Through the educational programs offered, women will get the knowledge concerning negative health impacts of excessive alcohol consumption. Consequently, it will be possible for them to comply with these regulations. In addition, it will be possible to understand the role of excessive alcohol drinking on causing negative impacts of fetal development which results into abnormal development of the fetus. The current state of policies controlling consumption of alcohol is targeted towards the general population and should be amended to suit the needs of specific target group that is affected by impacts of alcohol consumption. This group is women aged between 18-25 years. This is because, this is the stage of child bearing and women within this stage are also prone to a number of impacts such as rape and sexual violence. Consequently, there is the need to ensure they are protected and possibilities of these impacts are prevented. This can only be achieved through amending the present alcohol consumption policies. However, this paper shows that women need to be aware of these negative impacts and take the necessary measures to control their drinking behaviors such as consuming the recommended brands of alcohol. In addition, it is a wakeup call for women to contribute towards reduction in health related issues as a result of alcohol consumption such as breast cancer and liver diseases. The implementation of the new policies will only be successful if the responsible stakeholders such as the government and drugs regulating bodies cooperate towards monitoring the implementation of the policies. Any areas of weakness should be corrected. Other forms in which governments and stakeholders will contribute towards strengthening of these policies are regular funding of its implementation in the communities and health facilities. On the other hand, there is a variation of impacts of alcohol among various individuals. Thus these recommendations are not effective and subject to changes based on the target groups. The complexities result from variations in drinking patterns and individual characteristics. Thus, during application, the policies should be used in a manner that ensures the welfare of the affected individual is preserved while providing them with the right to consume alcohol. 3. References Allen et al (February 2009). 'Moderate Alcohol Intake and Cancer Incidence in Women', Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 101: 5, pp. 296–305, pp. 301–303 Bloomfield, K., Grittner, U., Kramer, S., & Gmel, G. (2006). Social inequalities in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems in the study countries of the EU concerted action "Gender, culture and alcohol problems: A multi-national study." Alcohol and Alcoholism, 41, 26–36. Camargo, C. A. (1999). Gender differences in the health effects of moderate alcohol consumption. In S. Peele & M. 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