Women’s group plans talk

Press, 28 August 1982, Page 22

Women’s group plans talk

A group of women who believe that the medical profession often fails to understand the needs of New Zealand women is organising a three-day conference to show their views. The Women’s Health Network is a group concerned with patients’ rights, selfhelp medicine, and mental health. The conference will be held in Auckland from September 17 to 19, and the organisers are expecting that between 500 and 800 people will attend.

Among the many guest speakers I at the conference will be several Christchurch women including four from The Health Alternatives for Women; Mrs Helen Chambers, from Patients’ Rights; and Dr Diana Sanders, an expert on the causes and relief of pre-menstrual tension. The first day of the conference will be designated as a professional symposium, and anyone involved in medicine and health care may attend. Research papers presented will include the health of

t Maori women, and the poli- ; tics of contraception. i More than 70 workshops i will be held on September .18 ■ and 19 at the North Shore ■ Teachers’ College. The ; Human Rights Commission i has allowed the conference 1 organisers to restrict these ■ sessions to women only. The main guest speaker at • the conference will be i Norma Swenson, of the Bos--1 ton Women's Health Network j and co-author of the best- . selling book, “Our Bodies 1 Ourselves.’” • f