Jump to content
  • Breaking barriers: towards more gender-responsive and equitable health systems (2019)


    Claire Cox
    • Switzerland
    • Reports and articles
    • Pre-existing
    • Original author
    • No
    • World Health Organisation
    • Patient safety leads, Researchers/academics

    Summary

    This report by the World Health Organization, draws attention to gender as a powerful determinant of health care access and outcomes. By analysing universal health coverage (UHC) indicators from a gender perspective, including indicators dis-aggregated by sex, the report exposes how people’s gender intersects with their socioeconomic backgrounds and other aspects of their identities and circumstances to produce health inequities.

    It applies gender and equity perspectives to service coverage and financial protection, two key dimensions of UHC. It concentrates on the policies and services of health systems, while acknowledging that breaking gender- and equity-related barriers requires a multisectoral approach. It shows how health systems and UHC policies, by increasing gender responsiveness, can improve equity. And it recommends ways to incorporate gender in the UHC framework for monitoring country progress.

    Content

    Policy highlights

    • For universal health coverage, “leave no one behind” means that countries should prepare equitable and gender-responsive health systems that consider the interaction of gender with wider dimensions of inequality, such as wealth, ethnicity, education, geographic location and sociocultural factors and implement them within a human rights framework.

    • Countries must consider the health inequities within and across groups and geographic areas, and learn how gender norms, unequal power relations and discrimination based on sexual and gender orientation impede access to health services. National health plans should consider equity and gender-related barriers. The opening times, staff composition and location of health facilities should be considered from an equity perspective, and services should be age and culturally appropriate.

    • Multisectoral cooperation is essential for reducing health inequities since some factors influencing disease burdens and barriers to access lie outside the reach of the health sector. Multisectoral involvement and coordination should be integrated in national health plans. Engaging civil society organisations and the public in decision-making and feedback is essential.

    • An equity, gender and human rights perspective in developing social health protection schemes is needed to address the differential risks experienced by people across the life course and to assist people in avoiding or coping with the financial costs of treating illnesses. Social health protection schemes should consider the health care needs of marginalised groups and incorporate mechanisms to remove the access barriers they face.

    • Effective, equitable and cost-efficient services can be delivered only when based on evidence. Further research using mixed methods – and quantitative and qualitative data – is needed to understand the mechanisms behind gender and equity barriers, which can vary by setting and population group.

    • Indicators for monitoring progress towards universal health coverage should enable monitoring progress for particular groups. At a minimum, indicators should be dis-aggregated by sex and age. Further dis-aggregation by ethnicity, migration status, wealth, education and geographic location is essential to identify and tailor interventions to reach groups living in situations of greatest vulnerability.

    Breaking barriers: towards more gender-responsive and equitable health systems (2019) https://www.who.int/healthinfo/universal_health_coverage/report/gender_gmr_2019.pdf?ua=1
    0 reactions so far

    0 Comments

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...