This seminar first aired live on April 21st, 2022
Moderator: Joseph Ali, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of International Health
Speakers:
- Ruxana Jina, Director, Data Impact Program, Vital Strategies
- Anne Stangl, Gender Equity Unit, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Fatima Marinho, Principal Technical Advisor, Vital Strategies, Brazil
This seminar provides a framework for integrating gender into health policy development using the WHO gender assessment scale. Speakers discuss examples of data to policy efforts using a gender lens from non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and gender-based violence prevention efforts in Africa and Brazil.
Some attempts to address gender equity through policy have only been successful at maintaining the status quo while continuing to overlook the health needs of underserved women, girls, and non-binary people. Oftentimes policies that are considered gender-neutral, targeting specific subpopulations without explicitly calling out gender factors, are in reality designed based on the needs and data collected from men and boys. Health policies developed without a gender lens can lead to unmet health needs and preventable deaths. We need to integrate a gender lens into policymaking efforts from start to finish by collaborating across sectors and ministries, developing gender-responsive policies and programs that benefit the health of all.