Today, women make up 75 percent of the global healthcare workforce in many regions1 and contribute nearly $3 trillion to the industry. But too often their contributions go unpaid and unrecognized – and stories of their impact go untold. As we seek to increase the numbers of women in leadership in the field of global health, this week at the 70th World Health Assembly GE Healthcare and Women in Global Health, a movement that strives for greater gender equality in global health leadership, have highlighted the valuable work and achievements of 13 “Heroines of Health” across the world and across different aspects healthcare.
Research has shown that women and girls are disproportionately affected by disease2, and that when women are in leadership roles, they will make decisions that are more supportive of women and children and lead to improved women’s health outcomes.3 Improving women’s health is a central focus of the global health community4 and advancing gender equality is therefore seen by many as a means of benefitting communities and public health.
Click here to read all heroines complete stories.
These are their stories:
1 WHO, Spotlight on statistics: A fact file on health workforce statistics. Gender and health workforce statistics, Issue 2, February 2008. Available online at: http://www.who.int/hrh/statistics/spotlight_2.pdf
2 Increasing Women in Leadership in Global Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4167801/
3 Increasing Women in Leadership in Global Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4167801/
4 United Nations: We can end poverty: Millenium development goals and beyond 2015. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml.