The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for more women leaders in the health care workforce, at a time when they have played key roles in saving lives and delivering care during the pandemic.
Speaking in the context of International Women’s Day, The WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that women had also suffered disproportionally during the pandemic.
“We have seen appalling increases in violence against women, and reduced access to services for sexual and reproductive health,” he said. “In relative terms, employment losses have been higher for women than for men. Women have also borne an additional and disproportionate burden of care for children and older people while being at the forefront of the response.”
In February, WHO partnered with the Government of France and Women in Global Health (WGH) to launch the Gender Equal Health and Care Workforce Initiative. The initiative aims to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions in the health and care systems, promote equal pay and protect women from sexual harassment and violence in the workforce.
Dr Roopa Dhatt, Executive Director of WGH said the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed fundamental flaws and gender inequalities in the current healthcare system. She pointed out that there is an urgent need to correct the gender imbalance to be better prepared for future pandemics.
“Our research had shown that 85 per cent of national COVID-19 task forces have the majority of male membership. The extraordinary work done by women in the health and care workforces in this pandemic has not earned them an equal seat at the decision-making table,” she said. “And as a result, we have all lost out on their talent and expertise.”
In addition, she highlighted that female political leaders have outperformed their male counterparts during the pandemic and argued that it is because women leaders have been more decisive, focused on the evidence and communicated more honestly with their citizens.
To mark International Women’s Day this year, WHO has announced its launch of a new Global Breast Cancer Initiative. Dr Tedros stated the initiative hopes to reduce mortality from breast cancer by 2.5 per cent every year until 2040, saving 2.5 million lives.
