The new rule applies to women aged 18 to 52, and does not require a medical certificate. Officials estimate that 350,000 to 400,000 women will benefit.

However, it excludes the much larger informal workforce of roughly six million women, including domestic workers, daily-wage labourers and gig workers, a gap experts say should be addressed.

Still, the move is being widely described as a landmark step, particularly because it covers private-sector employees regardless of their job type or contract.

Countries such as Spain, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia already offer menstrual leave, and in India, states like Bihar and Odisha provide limited leave for government workers. Karnataka’s decision, however, represents the broadest rollout yet in the country.

Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad called the measure “one of the most progressive policy decisions” for women. The IT industry’s trade association, Nasscom, said many companies in the state already offer menstrual leave, and that complying with the government order would not be difficult.

Worker groups welcomed the move. Pratibha R, who leads the local Garment and Textile Workers’ Union, noted that many garment workers receive only 11 days of leave per year.

But the policy has stirred debate. Some women say discussing menstruation at work is still uncomfortable in a society where the topic remains taboo.

“How can one go and seek menstrual leave when we don’t even speak about it?” asked Anunita Kundu, a software manager.

Wu is expected to replace A Kesavadas Nair, whose two-term limit ends this month.

The stunt sparked public backlash and criticism from party officials, prompting an apology from state veterans club chairperson Lee Kong Hing.

"I have no intention to insult women, and I respect women,” Lee said in an interview with Sin Chew Daily. “I used sanitary pads as a tool and hope that everyone does not misinterpret my intention.” 

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke called the act “inappropriate” and “insensitive,” stressing that internal party concerns should be addressed through proper channels.

The stunt also reinforced the stigma on menstruation, especially in a developing country like Malaysia, where poverty is a hindrance to affording menstrual products, said Deputy Communications Minister and Wanita DAP chief Teo Nie Ching.

“Yet, here they are wasting large quantities of sanitary pads just to mock their political rivals," she said. 

Lee explained that he had considered three props and chose sanitary pads for their airtight quality, symbolising what he described as the silence of 19 state DAP committee members on the matter.

"After the incident, some leaders called to express their concern, and a few women also called me. They didn't think the item was harmful to women," he said.

Malaysia is home to 16.9 million women, accounting for 46.7% of its population, according to 2024 World Bank data.

Based on interviews with 2,927 residents in 13 municipalities, the survey notes:

The study also revealed that 32% report genital infections linked to unsanitary public toilets, a frequent issue in state schools and 25% suffer pain severe enough to cause absence from school or work.

According to Fratmat.info , stigma remains pronounced, as 66.4% of women from the Northern Mande ethnic group report menstruation-related discrimination. While male respondents acknowledged menstruation as natural, 67% of Muslim men, compared with 30% of Christian men, described it as “dirty” or “impure.”

Public support for government intervention is overwhelming after the study revealed that 100% of participants backed free or subsidised sanitary products, yet 67% say the state plays “no role at all” in menstrual hygiene management.

CPDEFM says the findings “sound the alarm for urgent social and institutional action” to safeguard the health and dignity of Ivorian women and girls.

“I could either be with my children , or I could stay and do my duty,” says one of the doctors who remained in Khartoum in an interview with the AFP.

Since the conflict began, at least 78 health workers have been killed, according to Sudan’s Doctors’ Union, as hospitals continue to face attacks, supply shortages, and an exodus of medical professionals fleeing the violence.

For some, the decision to stay was deeply personal. Dr. Fathia Abdelmajed, a paediatrician at Al-Buluk Hospital, has not left since she arrived at the facility, determined to guide younger doctors who had been working tirelessly since the start of the war.

“Since I arrived at Al-Buluk, I have not left it. Even the specialists were once our students, and we trained them,” she says. “I was the only senior doctor. These hardworking young professionals had been working since the beginning of the war, even before I arrived. They truly accomplished great things, and I became like a mother to them, offering guidance and support,” said Dr Abdelmajed.

Others, like Dr. Safaa Ali, a gynaecologist and director of Saudi Hospital, stayed out of devotion to their country and profession.

“I have been working since the start of the war. I have not left Sudan. We find strength in our love for our country, our passion for our work, and the oath we swore,” she says.

But the decision came at a high personal cost. As her own family fled Sudan.

“My family, like many others, decided to leave Sudan because children started getting scared, and our area had become a conflict zone. It was extremely dangerous. When they made the decision to leave, and I had to make my own, I stayed up all night thinking. In the end, my professional commitment took precedence over my family obligations,” she explains. 

The hospitals still operating have increasingly relied on volunteer networks, such as the local Emergency Response Rooms, to fill the gaps.

Some are forced to sleep on the floor, cook their own food, and fetch water, even when they are close to delivery.

Lawmakers raised these concerns in parliament, highlighting that the conditions in maternity waiting homes are poor.

One MP, Sithabisiwe Moyo, said these shelters lack security and proper facilities.

“Expecting mothers need a proper place to rest and be admitted to hospitals, not just an empty room without bedding. These mothers are also not provided with food; they are told to find their own. Many of them come from distant areas,” she was quoted by Zimlive .

Deputy Health Minister Sleiman Kwidini admitted that some waiting shelters do not have enough resources.

According to him, the government is working with the Ministry of Public and Social Welfare to provide food, improve the shelters, and get better beds for these women.

However, he pointed out that providing water is not part of his ministry’s responsibility.

Kwidini meanwhile denied claims that the government has neglected these shelters. He said efforts are being made to build new ones and improve the old ones.

He also suggested that MPs use their Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to help build and maintain shelters in their areas.

Maternity waiting homes were introduced in Zimbabwe in the 1980s to help pregnant women, especially those from faraway places, stay close to hospitals before delivery.

Studies show that women who stay in these homes have better pregnancy outcomes. But today, many of these shelters are in bad shape, leaving expecting mothers in difficult conditions.

Protesters called for broader access to abortion services, in line with President Gabriel Boric's recent promise.

In June, Boric announced plans to introduce a bill by the end of 2024 that would expand the legal grounds for abortion in the country.

The demonstrators, made up of students, activists, and supporters, called for the implementation of free, public, and safe abortion services, arguing it is essential for public health and women's rights.

Mariana Perez, a 20-year-old student, said, "Free, public, and safe abortion has yet to be implemented in Chile, and I believe it is necessary as a matter of public health, beyond the ideals one may have."

Women's rights activist Angelica Salas, 34, echoed the sentiment, advocating for the decriminalisation of abortion. "I think it is very important that we women have the right to decide. And that the only important thing is that it is our decision," she said.

The protest featured dancing, drum performances, and chants demanding change. 

Despite its significance in safeguarding women's rights, the law has faced increasing pressure for repeal since 2023, sparking outrage and fears for the well-being of girls and women across the nation.

Advocates for the repeal argue that it is essential to uphold religious and cultural traditions. The bill to overturn the FGM ban cleared its second reading in parliament, with a majority of lawmakers supporting it. Notably, only a handful of predominantly male legislators voted against the bill, while one abstained. While only one of the five women in the assembly opposed the repeal, Semafor Africa reports.

The bill is now subject to further review by a parliamentary committee before a final vote is cast. However, the timeline for this review process remains uncertain, leaving the fate of the ban hanging in the balance.

FGM, which involves the partial or complete removal of the clitoris, holds deep cultural significance in many Gambian communities. It is often viewed as a traditional rite of passage symbolising femininity and cultural identity, despite the severe health risks associated with the practice.

The ban on FGM was implemented during the autocratic rule of former President Yahya Jammeh, who opposed the practice. However, the possibility of its reversal has sparked widespread backlash, prompting activists and civil society groups to stage protests at the National Assembly building during both readings of the bill.

Gambian women’s rights activist and founder of Women in Liberation and Leadership, Fatou Baldeh, said, “Whatever comes out of this threat to repeal the law will set a precedent, especially for African countries where FGM is practiced. Presently, the reason that policymakers are giving is that people at the community level want the FGM ban to be lifted so that they can continue the practice. The other reason is that Female Genital Mutilation is a religious requirement in Islam. If this law is repealed, it will open the vacuum for girls to be continually cut. It will encourage other countries not to pass laws to ban it. It will also open the doors for cross-border cutting. For example, families in Senegal will cross over and have their girls cut,” she told Global South World .

Women's rights advocates fear that lifting the ban could lead to a resurgence of FGM and exacerbate the already dire health consequences faced by affected women and girls.

The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill proposes stringent regulations for health facilities offering Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) services, The Monitor reports.

ART services are medical procedures that assist couples or individuals with alternative conception options where natural means are challenging or unlikely.

Per the bill, health facilities will be licensed annually by the Health Minister on recommendation by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council to practice these ART services in line with the law, whereas already existing facilities will be given two years to comply.

These facilities will, according to the bill, only offer such surrogacy arrangements after medical examinations are conducted to confirm the inability of the individual or couple to naturally produce.

Clause 21 of the bill states, “An intending parent may opt for surrogacy where a registered medical practitioner has, upon examination of the intending parent, established that the intending parent suffers primary or secondary infertility or the intending parent suffers health challenges which affect the intending parent’s ability to reproduce,” The Monitor quoted.

The bill also restricts persons under the age of 18 from being surrogates and indicates that the surrogate mother, having signed a written surrogacy agreement will have no rights to parenting of the child.

Medical practitioners who breach the components of the bill if passed into law are liable to a fine of Shs10m (US$ 69,930) or imprisonment not exceeding five years or both.

"About 50% of new cancer cases in adults in Africa are due to breast, cervical, prostate, colorectal, and liver cancers. If urgent measures are not taken, cancer mortality in the region is projected to reach about one million deaths per year by 2030. Also, in 20 years, cancer death rates in Africa will overtake the global average of 30%. This is more so because cancer survival rates in the WHO African region currently average 12%, much lower than the average of over 80% in High-Income Countries ,” Moeti said in a statement .

Moeti highlighted positive efforts in the fight against cancer, noting that 17 countries have implemented high-performance-based screening tests in accordance with WHO recommendations. Additionally, 28 Member States have introduced nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, aiming to reach approximately 60% of the priority population targeted for HPV vaccination.

“We call on the region’s countries, communities, partners, and civil society to unite and foster universal access to cancer prevention and care. Stakeholders must identify feasible priorities, implement evidence-based population-wide interventions, and invest in cancer control,” said Moeti.

Further, new data released by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer highlighted disparities in the cancer burden among developed nations. In countries with a very high Human Development Index (HDI), a metric assessing achievements in health, education, and standard of living, the statistics reveal that 1 in 12 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 in 71 will succumb to it. In contrast, low-HDI countries exhibit lower breast cancer diagnosis rates (1 in 27 women) but higher mortality rates (1 in 48), primarily attributed to late-stage diagnosis and limited access to treatments.

“The first group of South Sudanese women admitted to study medicine at the university were three ladies who joined a year ahead of us. This was in a class of about 70 to 80 students. Most of the female medical students were Arabs from North Sudan. It was extraordinary to be a South Sudanese woman studying medicine at the time,” She told the Nation Africa .

“I actually felt bad, but I have come to learn that it was because South Sudanese women have been marginalised for long. Yes, I'm proud and happy that I am the first one, but I don’t believe that should be the case…"I was born and raised in Juba, South Sudan in the 1980s. I was in primary school when the war started. There was a lot of shelling as rebels were targeting military camps. At some point, we had to build trenches in our home so that when the shelling began, we could all hide inside the trenches to protect ourselves,’’ she added.

Motivated to give back to her community, Dr Idyoro Ojukwu in 2006, while serving as the director of the South Sudan HIV/AIDS Commission in Torit, played a pivotal role in establishing the first Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centre in the region.   Subsequently, in 2008, she worked as a medical officer at Juba Teaching Hospital. In 2009, she embarked on her residency in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Nairobi, completing it in 2013 , Women Lift Health reports.

According to the Jica 2017 Gender Equality Report , the impact of the war in South Sudan has had profound social, economic, physical, and psychological consequences on women.

The shortage of midwives was a significant challenge in South Sudan before independence in 2011. However, organizations such as IMC and other partners have played a crucial role in addressing this issue by supporting midwifery education in the country, as reported by Frontier .

What they said

The director of sexual and reproductive health and research at the World Health Organisation, Professor Pascale Allotey said, “Many postpartum conditions cause considerable suffering in women’s daily life long after birth, both emotionally and physically, and yet they are largely under-appreciated, under-recognized, and under-reported. Throughout their lives, and beyond motherhood, women need access to a range of services from healthcare providers who listen to their concerns and meet their needs – so they not only survive childbirth but can enjoy good health and quality of life.” The centre director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, João Paulo Souza added, “Maternal health is not just something that we should start worrying about when the pregnancy bump appears. There are many factors that influence the likelihood a woman will have a healthy pregnancy, from the environment around her to the political and economic systems she lives in, or access to nutritious food and the level of agency she has over her life – all of these need to be addressed to improve her health, alongside access to high-quality healthcare throughout life.”