Health - It's Time for Women to Lead the Sector: Africa SheShapes
Nurse Peace, right, counsels a patient before she gets screened for cervical cancer at the RAiSE Foundation office in Niger State on February 24, 2021.Washington DC / London — 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.
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 . Without women from diverse backgrounds in decision-making positions, health programs lack insight and professional experience from the women health workers who largely deliver the health systems in their countries.
The issues women face in national health systems are then reproduced at the global level where women are excluded from political processes and marginalized from the most senior appointments. The consequences of locking women out of leadership represents a moral and justice issue, and also a strategic loss to the health sector. Through the pandemic, we saw how safe maternity and sexual and reproductive health services were deprioritized and removed from essential services in some countries, with catastrophic consequences for women and girls.
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