The workshop was organized by the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization. Ross contributed ideas on the value of self-care interventions and actions for reducing maternal mortality for underserved communities.

“In my own life experience and with the experience of working with women living with HIV in Latin America and around the world, I can testify to the importance of self-care, especially for people who have a chronic condition such as HIV,” she said. “I will explain these views as a journalist does, with basic questions about self-care: why? how? and with whom?”

Ross proceeded to outline why self-care makes such a difference—even between life and death. “For example, for women living with HIV, even among those who are highly educated, understanding the importance of antiretroviral treatment and achieving adherence and viral load reduction is most important, and this is all about self-care” she said. “A person with HIV who is educated in self-care will live a long life and reduce the likelihood of becoming ill.”

Self-care expands to all areas of life, she noted. “Self-care interventions must be tailored to the characteristics of the individuals and their working and living community spaces,” she said. “For example, young women always need other forms of intervention.”

Ross also stressed overcoming the microscopic view. “We must stop seeing only the parasite or the virus; we must see the person and see the community, and see them as significant actors in their health,” she said. “Self-care is a source of empowerment of the person and the community.” But self-care cannot happen without the consideration of fundamental human rights, Ross reiterated.

“Communities are the end users of all our health products and strategies,” she said. “However, these communities are not always informed or educated about the use of these products.”

All communities are spaces of great potential for self-care in reproductive health and maternal mortality reduction, Ross said. “Self-care strategies are the materialization of equity and empowerment for women, giving them back the ability to decide about their bodies and their reproductive health,” she said. “Many health inequities prevail in the world today, one of the most unjust being maternal mortality.”

Workshop participants also discussed new technologies and innovations that offer opportunities to reanalyse the importance of self-care strategies and to expand their reach.

“Self-care is particularly important to break down barriers to access in underserved and marginalized populations,” said Ross. “Methodologies for estimating maternal mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean have two main themes, which are underreporting and misclassification; which could mean that maternal mortality is underestimated.”

Indigenous women are one of the underserved populations for whom access to services is most complicated.

“Women living with HIV are another of the populations underserved in reproductive health,” noted Ross. “Stigma is a persistent barrier in this and other underserved populations,” she said. “Self-care is, in fact, the first line of response in health.”

But self-care does not replace health services, cautioned Ross. “It is not about putting the responsibility or costs of health on people.”

The World Council of Churches promotes self-care actions with young people living with HIV, putting emphasis in the compliance of HIV treatment and prevention of gender-based violence. In 2025, this experience will be expanded to reproductive health and the self-awareness of symptoms of cervical cancer. Self-care invokes each person's God-given agency for caring for oneself, families, and communities. Churches are called to ensure that fundamental human dignity and women's rights are protected and guaranteed.

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