GENDER INEQUALITIES FUEL GLOBAL HEALTH CRISIS-WHO REPORT
Anew report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has shown that women perform an estimated 76 per cent of all unpaid care activities.
The report tagged: “Fair share for health and care: gender and the undervaluation of health and care work,” also illustrates how gender inequalities in health and care work negatively impact women, health systems and health outcomes.
The report noted that women also comprise 67 per cent of the paid global health and care workforce, adding that, work that is done primarily by tend to be paid less and have poor working conditions.
The report further outlined underinvestment in health systems, which results in a vicious cycle of unpaid health and care work, lowering women’s participation in paid labour markets, harming women’s economic empowerment and hampering gender equality.
It also highlights low pay and demanding working conditions. conditions are commonly found in the health and care sector. Devaluing caregiving, which is work performed primarily by women, negatively impacts wages, working conditions, productivity and the economic footprint of the sector.
The report illustrates that decades of chronic underinvestment in health and care work are contributing to a growing global crisis of care. The report added that with stagnation in progress towards universal health coverage, UHC, resulting in 4.5 billion people lacking full coverage of essential health services, women may take on even more unpaid care work.
It pointed out that the deleterious impact of weak health systems combined with increasing unpaid health and care work is further straining the health of caregivers and the quality of services.
Commenting on the report, WHO Director for Health Workforce, Jim Campbell, said the ‘Fair Share’ report highlights how gender-equitable investments in health and care work would reset the value of health and care, and drive fairer and more inclusive economies.
Campbell said: “We are calling upon leaders, policy-makers and employers to action investment: it is time for a fair share for health and care.”
The report presents policy levers to better value health and care work by improving working conditions for all forms of health and care work, especially for highly feminised occupations.
The report stressed the need to include women more equitably in the paid labour workforce, enhance conditions of work and wages in the health and care workforce and ensure equal pay for work of equal value.
The report also stressed the need to address the gender gap in care, support quality care work and uphold the rights and well-being of caregivers, ensure that national statistics account for, measure and value all health and care work as well as invest in robust public health systems to reduce the burden of unpaid care work and improve the quality of healthcare services.
It further noted that investments in health and care systems not only accelerate progress on UHC, but they also redistribute unpaid health and care work.
“When women participate in paid health and care employment, they are economically empowered, and health outcomes are better. Health systems need to recognize, value and invest in all forms of health and care work,” it added.