Resource Type: Research paper

This viewpoint addresses the lack of gender diversity in medical leadership in Latin America and the gap in evidence on gender dimensions of the health workforce.

Originally posted on Lancet Regional Health Americas

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on political leadership around the world. Differences in how leaders address the pandemic through public messages have practical implications for building trust and an effective response within a country. Methods We analysed the speeches made by 20 heads of government around the world (Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Scotland, Sint Maarten, United Kingdom, United States and Taiwan) to highlight the differences between men and women leaders in discussing COVID-19. We used an inductive analytical approach, coding speeches for specific themes based on language and content.

Dada, Sara & Ashworth, Henry & Bewa, Marlene & Dhatt, Roopa. (2021). Words matter: political and gender analysis of speeches made by heads of government during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ Global Health. 6. e003910. 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003910.

We support Simon Wright and Refiloe Mabjeane,1 who wrote on behalf of the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030, calling for a “radically different approach” to the UN high-level meeting on universal health coverage (UHC) on Sept 23, 2019. However, a radically different approach means prioritising gender equality and girls and women’s health and rights in UHC, and this includes the health workforce.

Iversen K, Girard F, Dhatt R, van Daalen K, Keeling A, Pley C. Women’s rights will drive universal health coverage. Lancet. 2019 Sep 21;394(10203):1005. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31815-X. PMID: 31544740.

A growing chorus of voices are questioning the glaring lack of women in COVID-19 decision- making bodies. Men dominating leadership positions in global health has long been the default mode of governing. This is a symptom of a broken system where gover-nance is not inclusive of any type of diversity, be it gender, geography, sexual orientation, race, socio- economic status or disciplines within and beyond health – excluding those who offer unique perspectives, expertise and lived realities. This not only reinforces ineq-uitable power structures but undermines an effective COVID-19 response – ultimately costing lives.

van Daalen, Kim & Bajnoczki, Csongor & Chowdhury, Maisoon & Dada, Sara & Khorsand, Parnian & Socha, Anna & Lal, Arush & Jung, Laura & Alqodmani, Lujain & Torres, Irene & Ouedraogo, Samiratou & Mahmud, Amina & Dhatt, Roopa & Phelan, Alexandra & Rajan, Dheepa. (2020). Symptoms of a broken system: the gender gaps in COVID-19 decision-making. BMJ Global Health. 5. 3549. 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003549.

The journey to realizing women’s and girls’ rights has been a long one. We marked the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration in 2020, committed to the 2000 Millennium Development Goals, and renewed commitment in 2015 with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development should be used as an advocacy tool to initiate action and hold Member States of the United Nations accountable (1 –3). At 5 years into the 2030 agenda, it is clear that many countries are not on track to meet some of the SDGs and targets. There is also fear the COVID-19 pandemic will result in setbacks and complacency from governments to commitments previously made. In order to realize women’s and girls’ rights, concerted action on gender equality throughout the SDGs is needed.

Morgan, Rosemary & Dhatt, Roopa & Kharel, Chandani & Muraya, Kui. (2020). A patchwork approach to gender equality weakens the SDGs: time for cross-cutting action. Global health promotion. 27. 3-5. 10.1177/1757975920949735.

Science and innovation benefit from diversity. However, as the global community fights COVID-19, the productivity and scientific output of female academics are disproportionately affected, leading to loss of women’s scientific expertise from the public realm.

Gabster, Brooke & van Daalen, Kim & Dhatt, Roopa & Barry, Michele. (2020). Challenges for the female academic during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet. 395. 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31412-4.

Epidemics function as a gendered vulnera-bility, and yet gender remains an afterthought in health security and pandemic response, including to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).1 Emerging data indicate that COVID-19 mortality is greater among men, but past experiences suggest that the socio-economic impact of epidemics tends to be far greater for women. As a result, it is essen-tial to assess the intersectional and gendered vulnerabilities in health emergencies. In addition, given the gender- skewed landscape of power and decision- making in global health, it is also critical to outline women’s leadership and role in such contexts.

Bali, Sulzhan & Dhatt, Roopa & Lal, Arush & Mahmud, Amina & van Daalen, Kim & Sridhar, Devi. (2020). Off the back burner: Diverse and gender-inclusive decision-making for COVID-19 response and recovery. BMJ Global Health. 5. e002595. 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002595.

All genders differ in their needs, perception, attitudes, and vulnerability to the effects of climate change.1 This difference is notably true for how climate change affects health.2 Although some governmental and non-governmental organisations have begun to address the inequity of gender-based climate change effects, global efforts are falling short by failing to recognise the impact that gender has on health.

van Daalen, Kim & Jung, Laura & Dhatt, Roopa & Phelan, Alexandra. (2020). Climate change and gender-based health disparities. The Lancet Planetary Health. 4. e44-e45. 10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30001-2.

The Fearless Girl statue that faces down Wall Street’s charging bull grabbed international headlines and triggered a debate about the glass ceiling that continues to obstruct women from reaching the higher echelons of the financial sector. Overlooked in the debate is that this disparity is not confined to the financial sector; even sectors that are predominantly female still have a shocking gender gap in senior roles. As we invest in the next generation of young leaders, it is important to look at the current generation of leaders to identify and address the barriers that keep senior positions decidedly male.leaders 

The Lancet Correspondance: Global health: generation men
August 18, 2017
By Nina Schwalbe