What Are the Biggest Health Risks Facing Women around the World?

Nearly 800,000 women die every year because they don’t have access to proper sanitation and clean drinking water, according to a review of data compiled by the Seattle-based Institute of Health Metrics in 2015. Diseases caused by poor sanitation and dirty water are the fifth-biggest killer of women, causing more deaths around the world than AIDS, diabetes, and breast cancer. Only heart disease, stroke, respiratory infection, and pulmonary disease rank higher.

Life without basic necessities:

• One third of all women and girls do not have access to a safe toilet. Millions of women are forced to relieve themselves outdoors at night, where they could be susceptible to sexual assault.
• Eighty percent of deaths caused by a lack of clean water and proper sanitation occur in developing countries.
• In developing countries, women often give birth at home in difficult conditions, leading to higher maternal mortality rates.