DELIVERING EQUITABLE, GENDER-RESPONSIVE, AND INCLUSIVE HEALTH SYSTEMS

Across the globe, COVID-19 has demonstrated that, without universally accessible, acceptable, and affordable quality health care, many people will be excluded and left behind. This exclusion comes with social and economic costs to individuals, communities, and countries. And yet, women and girls continue to be underserved, and their rights to health, education, and decent work are systematically violated. The pandemic has demonstrated that when women lead across a health system, they make a difference.

The World Health Organization has designated 2021 the Year of Health and Care Workers. Notably, women are so often at the front lines of health care, a trend that remains true during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, globally, 70 percent of the health and social workforce are women. Many remain unpaid or underpaid and undervalued. And gender parity in senior leadership across all facets of health systems is urgently required.

Moreover, given their central role in health care, across Africa, women are leading the call for health workers to be paid a fair wage and serve under safe working conditions to deliver the right to health for all, fight COVID-19, and build resilient and equitable health systems for the future.