It's Time for Women to Lead Health Sector

Women health workers are more than two thirds of the health workforce and represent 90% of the world's frontline health workers, yet hold less than a quarter of senior leadership roles - a situation which is unfair and a significant risk for global health security, according to Roopa Dhatt and Ebere Okereke for Inter Press Service.

Despite five years of ad hoc commitments, a new report, The State of Women and Leadership in Global Health shows few and isolated gains, while overall progress on women's representation in global health governance has remained largely unchanged.

The report, launched on March 16, 2023 assessed global data together with deep dives into country case studies from India, Nigeria and Kenya. It found that women lost significant ground in health leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Women in Global Health study calculated that 85% of 115 national Covid-19 task forces had majority male membership. At global level, during the World Health Organisation's Executive Board meeting in January 2022, just 6% of government delegations were led by women - down from a high point of 32% in 2020.

Without women from diverse backgrounds in decision-making positions, health programmes lack insight and professional experience from the women health workers who largely deliver the health systems in their countries.

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