Health systems depend on women as providers of health care
Paradoxically, health systems are often unresponsive to the needs of women despite the fact that women themselves are major contributors to health, through their roles as primary caregivers in the family and also as health-care providers in both the formal and informal health sectors. The backbone of the health system, women are nevertheless rarely represented in executive or management-level positions, tending to be concentrated in lower-paid jobs and exposed to greater occupational health risks. In their roles as informal health-care providers at home or the community, women are often unsupported, unrecognized and unremunerated.
Societal failings damage women’s health
Women’s health is profoundly affected by the ways in which they are treated and the status they are given by society as a whole. Where women continue to be discriminated against or subjected to violence, their health suffers. Where they are excluded by law from the ownership of land or property or from the right to divorce, their social and physical vulnerability is increased. At its most extreme, social or cultural gender bias can lead to violent death or female infanticide. Even where progress is being made there are reasons to keep pushing for more. While there has been much progress in girls’ access to education for example, there is still a male–female gap when it comes to secondary education, access to employment and equal pay. Meanwhile, the greater economic independence enjoyed by some women as a result of more widespread female employment may have benefits for health, but globally, women are less well protected in the workplace, both in terms of security and working conditions.
Paradoxically, health systems are often unresponsive to the needs of women despite the fact that women themselves are major contributors to health, through their roles as primary caregivers in the family and also as health-care providers in both the formal and informal health sectors. The backbone of the health system, women are nevertheless rarely represented in executive or management-level positions, tending to be concentrated in lower-paid jobs and exposed to greater occupational health risks. In their roles as informal health-care providers at home or the community, women are often unsupported, unrecognized and unremunerated.
Societal failings damage women’s health
Women’s health is profoundly affected by the ways in which they are treated and the status they are given by society as a whole. Where women continue to be discriminated against or subjected to violence, their health suffers. Where they are excluded by law from the ownership of land or property or from the right to divorce, their social and physical vulnerability is increased. At its most extreme, social or cultural gender bias can lead to violent death or female infanticide. Even where progress is being made there are reasons to keep pushing for more. While there has been much progress in girls’ access to education for example, there is still a male–female gap when it comes to secondary education, access to employment and equal pay. Meanwhile, the greater economic independence enjoyed by some women as a result of more widespread female employment may have benefits for health, but globally, women are less well protected in the workplace, both in terms of security and working conditions.
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