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Girls need decent healthcare

In developing countries, most girls never receive a check-up or see a doctor.

Medical care costs too much. And even if they can afford it, they often cannot find a doctor or nurse within many miles of their homes.

Girls need decent healthcare to stay well, definitely, but also to stay alive. One in seven girls in the developing world will be married before she turns 15. Half of the girls in the least developed countries have a baby before they turn 20.

Girl Up gets girls to doctors in countries like Ethiopia and Guatemala, making sure they receive an annual check up along with the information they need to stay healthy, and alive.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Medical complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15-19 worldwide.
• Girls between the ages of 10 and 14 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20 to 24. The vast majority of these deaths take place within marriage.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, 75 percent of HIV-infected youth between the ages of 15 and 24 are girls.