HEALTHCARE

Research from the UN has shown that medical and technological improvements over several decades have extended the lives of both women and men. Adolescence and young adulthood should be a time of general good health with low mortality rates.

Yet in developing countries like Nigeria, complications linked to pregnancy and childbirth, as well as sexually transmitted infections, particularly HIV, continue to take a heavy toll on the lives of adolescent girls and young women.

This is due not only to underdeveloped health systems that are unable to address women’s needs, but also to gender issues. Poor access to information and education, early marriage, and lack of decision-making power among girls who are married or in relationship increase their exposure to sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and the risk of unsafe abortion.

We ranked the states using the indicators below to get an idea how well they perform compared to one another in tackling health issues relating to the female gender. The state with the best interventions in 2015 is ranked 1, and the worst ranked 37.

• Child Health
• Healthcare Access
• Life Expectancy
• Reproductive Health
• Teenage Child Bearing
• Women Nutrition