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Our aims 

The mission of WGH Mexico is to contribute to and strengthen the leadership of Mexican women in relevant national and global health issues, especially through: a) creating a sisterhood network of Mexican women leaders in health, b) promoting equitable representation of women in managerial positions for decision-making in health (government, civil society, private sector), c) promoting safe spaces for discussion on relevant issues of the role of women in health and leadership issues, and d) promoting strategies to close gender gaps in health professionals in Mexico. 

Our work 

WGH Mexico has been participating actively in the WGH activities, in the Latin American region and globally. In 2021 with the support of the civil society organization (Tomatelo a Pecho), the University of Miami and the WGH Chile, we coordinated a panel with the formers Ministers of Health of Latin America called “Mujeres líderes en la salud global, equidad y salud en America Latina” (Women leaders in global health, equity and health in Latin America). Former female Ministers of Health from the Latin American region participated. This panel was facilitated by Felicia Marie Knaul (adviser of WGH Mexico) and discussed by Jeanette Godinez Alejandre, one of the chapter leaders. 

WGH Mexico actively participates in the meetings of WGH Latin America chapters, through the leadership of Frida María Vizcaíno-Ríos. The Mexican chapter together with WGH Chile, WGH Bolivia, and WGH Brazil, co-coordinated the Webinar of International Women’s Day “8 M” with the subject “Gender equity for universal health coverage”. One of WGH Mexico’s allies, Karla Berdichevsky, Director of the former Institute of Gender Equity and Sexual and Reproductive Health from the national government of Mexico, facilitated the perspective on gender equity challenges in the Mexican health system. 

Additionally, one of the WGH Mexico Co-Directors – Alhelí Calderón Villarreal, a chapter adviser – Felicia Marie Knaul, and the Executive Director of WGH, Roopa Dhatt, were co-authors in a publication in The Lancet Regional Health – The Americas titled: “The feminization of medicine in Latin America: ‘More-the-merrier’ will not beget gender equity or strengthen health systems”. In this publication, the case of Mexico was described as an example of how in Latin America even when most of the medical students and health professionals are women, there are significant gender gaps in leadership positions. 

Further, the WGH Mexico Strategic Planning Coordinator – Gabriela Lugo Reyes participated at the Global Chapters Peer To Peer Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. 

Finally, the leaders of WGH Mexico, led by the Co-Director María Roceli Dzib García, Frida María Vizcaíno-Rios, Aimee Giselle Horcasitas Tovar, and Gabriela Lugo Reyes are exploring new alliances with NGOs focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Mexican chapter seeks to advocate for sexual and reproductive access among indigenous women and the LGBTQ+ community. 

The WGH Mexico chapter is still developing, expecting to expand its membership and leadership team in further stages. We are interested in promoting mentorship strategies, creating a gender equity observatory in health leadership, advocating for female leaderships on health, and seeking funding opportunities to achieve their aims.

Our leaders:

Co-Directors:

• Alhelí Calderón Villarreal
• María Roceli Dzib Garcia

Strategic Alliances Coordinators:

• Jeannette Godinez Alejandre
• Frida María Vizcaíno-Rios

Community Coordinators:

• Aimée Giselle Horcasitas Tovar
• Jeannet Melina Bravo Vazquez

Strategic Planning Coordinator:

• Gabriela Lugo Reyes

Academic Activities Coordinators:

• Tayde Selene Martinez Medina
• Itzel Eguiluz
• Cinthya Ayerim Lucio Garcia
• Delta Jeazul Ponce Hernandez

Advisors:

• Nelly Salgado de Snyder
• Felicia Marie Knaul
• Raffaela Schiavon Ermani