Persistent gender gap a public health obstacle
Persistent gender gap is a public health obstacle.
What you need to know:
- Achieving today’s complex global health goals requires greater and more diverse leadership talent across sectors and countries.
- Women are an untapped talent pool, representing 70 per cent of the health workforce but only 25 per cent of executive positions and five per cent of CEO-level positions.
- Women and girls still confront substantial impediments to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.
As the world becomes more globalised, leadership in public health is more crucial than ever for tackling health inequities and fostering gender equality.
This need is especially pressing in Africa, as the continent continues to face health challenges, such as infectious and noncommunicable diseases, as well as maternal and child healthcare, to name a few of the major concerns raised at the second International Conference on Public Health in Africa-CPHIA2022, held in Kigali, Rwanda, and hosted by the Africa CDC and African Union, in partnership with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
CPHIA 2022 provided a unique platform for African researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to come together and share perspectives and findings in public health while ushering in a new era of strengthened scientific collaboration and innovation and building more resilient health systems that allow African countries to better prepare for and manage emerging health threats while addressing long-standing infectious diseases.
Achieving today’s complex global health goals requires greater and more diverse leadership talent across sectors and countries. And yet women are an untapped talent pool, representing 70 per cent of the health workforce but only 25 per cent of executive positions and five per cent of CEO-level positions.
The persistent gender gap in Africa is a major obstacle for public health. Women and girls still confront substantial impediments to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.
This imbalance has devastating effects on women's and girls' health and inhibits the work of public health officials to better the health of the population.
Africa's leaders must prioritise gender equality in their policies and programmes to overcome this challenge. This requires addressing the social, economic, and cultural elements that lead to gender disparity.
It also necessitates working closely with local communities, civil society, and other stakeholders to identify and address the unique needs of women and girls in various locations and circumstances.
Improving access to education, particularly for girls, is an effective strategy for advancing gender equality in public health. It has been demonstrated that education has a significant impact on health outcomes and investing in girls' education can assist to lower the prevalence of infections, enhance maternal and child health, and promote general gender equality.
Public health officials can collaborate with schools and community organisations to provide girls with the support and resources they need to remain in school, complete their education, and acquire the skills and necessary knowledge to succeed in the workforce.
“I've been told that I'm a pan-Africanist. I don't mind that. What I know is that I’m a strong believer that it's only Africa that is going to solve its own problems,” Africa CDC Acting Director Dr Ahmed Ogwell Ouma said.
Providing women and girls with access to high-quality healthcare contributes hugely to the improvement of gender equity in public health. In many regions of Africa, women and girls confront major challenges to healthcare access, such as a lack of information, inadequate infrastructure, and cultural shame.
Leaders in public health can fight to increase the availability and quality of healthcare services, especially for marginalised groups such as rural women and girls, refugees, and individuals living with HIV/Aids. This can involve activities such as the training and support of community health professionals, the improvement of infrastructure, and the provision of health education and information.
While women’s health has always been a priority in global health, the role of women as advocates and leaders in health has received less attention, and the disproportionate impact of public health on women is less extensively studied.
We must move beyond the traditional focus on women as recipients of health interventions to include women as shapers, providers, and leaders of a gender-inclusive health system, recognising that universal health coverage is not possible without gender equity.
By prioritising education, healthcare, and other key areas, public health leaders can help to address the underlying causes of gender inequality and improve the health and well-being of women and girls across the continent.
Africa needs to invest, bring our expertise at the forefront, and strengthen our workforce. The African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) needs to consider, take stock on the public health agenda and shape more resilient conversations characterised by strong political will to continue the journey to self-sufficient Africa able to deliver and take ownership of data-driven science and make decision leading Africa to development.
Dr Norah Obudho is the Health Integration & East Africa Director, WomenLift Health; Liberty Kituu is the East Africa’s Communications Manager at Womenlift Health
