Resource Type: In the news

WASHINGTON DC / LONDON, Mar 16 2023 (IPS) – Women health workers are more than two thirds of the health workforce and represent 90% of the world’s frontline health workers, yet hold less than a quarter of senior leadership roles – a situation which is unfair and a significant risk for global health security.

Washington DC/ Chapel Hill, North Carolina/ Geneva — Health services don’t deliver themselves. It is the nurse who triages in the emergency department, the midwife who delivers babies and cares for mothers, the community health worker who gives babies vaccines, the care assistant who bathes someone at home, the surgeon who performs the operation, the anesthetist who blocks the pain, the pharmacist who matches the script to the medication, and the physiotherapist who restores movement.

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) — If there was a Harvey Weinstein in health, we probably wouldn’t know about it. Not because sexual harassment in the health workforce isn’t widespread—we know that it is and not because women don’t want to report their experiences of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) at work—we know that they do; but because across much of the world’s health systems, there are simply no feasible reporting or legal mechanisms in place that women health workers can use with confidence.

Experts say that the exploitation of women’s labour has negative effects on health systems. More than 6 million women worldwide are subsidising health systems with their unpaid or grossly underpaid labour, according to a new report by Women in Global Health (WGH), released on July 7. Most of these women work in low-income and middle-income countries, mainly in community health roles. But the Subsidizing Global Health report also found examples of women working without pay in some professions, including nursing. Although men also work unpaid in health systems, usually at the community level, their numbers are smaller compared with women.

I was once called a ‘double agent‘ because I grew up and trained in India, but now do global health research and teaching in Canada. I think it was meant as a compliment (I hope!) to suggest that someone like me understood global health from both perspectives. Of course, there are people from high-income countries (HICs) living and working in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

‘Women and Global Health Leadership: Power and Transformation’ showcases the journeys of female leaders and offers practical advice to increasing women’s representation at different levels

A new report from Women in Global Health found that 6 million unpaid women support health systems. Women make up 90% of frontline health care workers globally — and those in unpaid roles are grossly underpaid yet continue to hold health systems together in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report released on Thursday.

Advancing women’s leadership, gender equity critical to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals – PMNCH. Summit participants focused on solutions to increase women’s representation and participation in leadership roles and reduce gender gaps across every aspect of society.

Anita Kouhavey-Eklu was thrilled when she learned earlier this year that she’d been awarded a Heroines of Health Award.

Born and raised in Mali, Dr. Mariam has dedicated her life to caring for the health of her community, particularly regarding child mortality. When it came to university, Mariam initially hoped to study engineering. However, this changed when she repeatedly witnessed her family’s inability to access timely care for her siblings, resulting in the loss of three sisters.

Global health security and women’s rights are being undermined by the lack of payment or gross underpayment of women health workers, according to a new report from Women in Global Health.

Woman health workers are the backbone of medical care across much of the world, so why are they treated so poorly?

Egypt’s former Minister of Health and Population, and the country’s first female health minister, Maha El-Rabbat received the Heroine of Health Award at the World Health Summit on 17 October 2022.

Katherine is joined by Ann Keeling, Senior Fellow with Women in Global Health and lead author of WGH’s new policy brief, Subsidizing Global Health: Women’s Unpaid Work in Health Systems. Neglecting to pay women appropriately for their contributions to the global health workforce is not new.

Mônica Batista Teixeira recebeu o prêmio Heroínas da Saúde pelo trabalho contra a Covid no Amazonas

The COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test for the health sector, which is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world, and also one of the largest employers of women. Women are 70% of the health and social care workforce and 90% of nurses but they are clustered into jobs that are lower paid, often unpaid, and given lower social status.

While an estimated 70%–75% of the health workforce are women, this is not reflected in the leadership roles of most health organisations—including global decision-making bodies such as the World Health Assembly (WHA).