March is recognised globally as Women’s History Month, a time to honour women’s contributions and to confront the structural barriers that continue to shape their realities. As the month draws to a close, the African Journal of Primary Healthcare and Family Medicine (PHCFM) would like to celebrate researchers whose work is contributing to a broader movement toward understanding the complexities of women’s lives and health across the continent and globally. From reproductive health challenges and non communicable diseases to violence, disability and the social conditions that shape care seeking, women face interconnected issues that need to be studied in a holistic way. In this post, we feature studies that were recently published in PHCFM, which examine complex health and social dimensions faced by women, offering insights for more responsive, person centred primary healthcare systems on the continent.

Mabena and colleagues (2025) deal with a pervasive women’s health issue across Africa, examining experiences of dual intimate partner violence (IPV) among women in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Disturbingly, their findings indicate that a substantial proportion of women are simultaneously subjected to physical and emotional forms of violence, which has grave implications for their physical and mental health, sexual and reproductive risk, and engagement with health services. The authors call for measures that place IPV screening, counselling and referral at the heart of primary care, to ensure that victims are identified and supported in a timely and sensitive manner.

Reproductive choice is at the centre of a study by Niekerk and Pretorius (2024), which analyses knowledge and use of emergency contraceptives among South African women seeking termination of pregnancy. This research examines women who were facing an unplanned pregnancy and requesting abortion services, deconstructing the factors at play including knowledge gaps, misconceptions about how and when emergency contraception can be used, and barriers such as stigma and inconsistent counselling within services. The authors advocate for primary healthcare systems that provide women with accurate information, non judgmental counselling and timely access to emergency contraception and abortion services.

A study by Moses and colleagues (2026) adds an important dimension to the issue of reproductive choice, focusing on young women living with disabilities in Botswana and their knowledge and use of modern contraceptive methods. The study reveals a relatively low use of contraception among these women, along with patterns of partial awareness, stigma and misconceptions. The article deconstructs how disability intersects with gender to constrain reproductive choice, and discusses the need for primary healthcare systems to design disability inclusive family planning services—ensuring that information, counselling and contraceptive options are accessible, dignifying and tailored to the realities of young women with disabilities.

Larsson and colleagues (2026) consider leveraging midwives as a solution to health system understaffing. They explore what it means to integrate midwifery into healthcare systems by collecting perspectives of healthcare leaders in two African countries, Ethiopia and The Gambia. They describe midwifery led care as a model grounded in continuity, relationship, and respect for women’s preferences. In their study, participants identified regulatory frameworks, financing, professional hierarchies, and entrenched obstetric centric norms as key factors that either enable or constrain this movement. Their work calls for health systems to broaden how they organise primary care— the need to integrate midwifery more fully into policy and governance, so that midwives can provide evidence-based, woman-centred care across the reproductive life course.

Shange and Maharaj (2024) investigate the lived experiences of motherhood among students at a South African University, shedding light on the realities of young women in higher education who are also caring for children. They show how student mothers juggle classes, exams, childcare, and finances, highlighting the emotional and logistical labour required for mothers to remain enrolled and succeed academically. The authors argue that the right to continue education after childbirth is a determinant of long term health and well being, and link women’s health to broader questions of equity and reproductive justice within higher education systems.

Chibatamoto and colleagues (2025) turn their attention to women’s experience of non communicable disease (NCDs) by examining the factors associated with late diagnosis of breast cancer among women in Botswana. In their study, almost half of the women in their sample presented with advanced stage disease at the first diagnosis. They identify characteristics and care-seeking patterns that shape when women enter the cancer pathway, and conclude that timely breast cancer detection requires awareness, screening practices, service availability, and targeted communication campaigns that reach women before symptoms become severe. This work reinforces the need for integrated, women centred cancer prevention and early diagnosis efforts as part of the broader women’s health agenda in the region.

Aphane and colleagues (2026) extend this discussion into women’s midlife by applying an ethnographic approach to examine the holistic management of menopausal symptoms among indigenous women in Gauteng. Their work shows how this population understands menopause as an experience intertwined with identity, community and spirituality. By foregrounding indigenous perspectives on managing menopause symptoms and maintaining well being, the study highlights the importance of indigenous approaches that support women’s holistic menopausal experience, rather than focusing solely on clinical outcomes. It ultimately calls for primary healthcare responses to menopause that are culturally grounded, respectful of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, and responsive to the diverse ways women make sense of this stage of life.
These studies show how women’s health in Africa is shaped by the intersection of personal aspirations, social norms, and system structures. As Women’s History Month comes to an end, these contributions from the PHCFM disseminate an important message: meaningful progress in women’s health will come from research that listens thoughtfully to women’s experiences, interrogates power within social and health systems, and integrates women-centred healthcare approaches. This body of work situates health within the broader, complex realities of women’s lives, providing a more expansive understanding of what it means for women to live healthy, self determined lives across the continent.

Author: Sumana Dhanani (MPh), Editorial Intern | PHCFM, University of Rwanda – CMHS