Comprehensive Women Health Services at Beverage-Producing Industries of Limpopo (South Africa): Women’s Perspective

Abstract

(1) Background: Women remain highly vulnerable to numerous risks at work, including labor rights violations, violence and harassment, myriad general and reproductive health risks. The availability of the comprehensive services remains the only hope for these women, yet very little is known about their perspective. (2) Aim: To determine the experiences of women regarding the availability of comprehensive women’s health services in the industries of Limpopo (South Africa). (3) Methods: The project adopted the qualitative research method to determine the experiences of women related to the availability of comprehensive women’s health services. Non-probability purposive and convenience sampling was used to select 40 women employed in two beverage producing industries. A semi-structured interview with an interview guide was used to collect data that were analyzed using thematic analysis. (4) Results: Four themes emerged about the available health services in the two industries; diverse experiences related to available women’s health services, knowledge related to women’s health services, and diverse description of women’s health services practice and risks. The themes are interpreted into ten sub-themes. (5) Conclusions and Recommendations: There is a lack of available comprehensive women health services at the two beverage producing industries. Thus, women face challenges regarding accessing comprehensive women’s reproductive health care services as well as being exposed to health hazards such as burns, bumps, injuries and suffering from inhalation injuries and burns from moving machines, noise, slippery floors, and chemicals that are used for production in the industry. Women expressed dissatisfaction in the industries regarding the provided general health and primary healthcare services that have limited women’s health-specific services. We recommended that the industries should prioritize designing and developing the comprehensive women health services that to enable women at the industries to have access to good-quality reproductive health care and effective interventions.

Pollution and endometriosis: A deep dive into the environmental impacts on women's health

“…26 Women who are exposed to specific occupational hazards on a regular basis may face unique challenges and potential health consequences related to this chronic gynaecological condition. 142 Certain occupations expose workers to a range of EDCs. 143 Phthalates and parabens can mimic or interfere with hormones, 144,145 potentially dysregulating the delicate hormonal balance in the body and contributing to the development of endometriosis.…”

“…Women who are exposed to specific occupational hazards on a regular basis may face unique challenges and potential health consequences related to this chronic gynaecological condition 142 . Certain occupations expose workers to a range of EDCs 143 .…”