WOMEN IN GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY REPORT LAUNCH: Subsidizing global health: Women’s unpaid work in health systems

Women have played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic at all levels from political leadership to vaccine design. In addition, women make up 70% of the health and care workforce and 90% of frontline and patient-facing roles.

Despite being the majority in the profession, women in the health sector are paid 23% less than their male counterparts and millions of women are working unpaid or grossly underpaid in core health systems roles. It is estimated that women in health contribute 5% to global gross domestic product (GDP) (US$ 3 trillion), out of which almost 50% is unrecognized and unpaid. Women’s unpaid work at community level has had major positive health outcomes for communities, as confirmed by the unpaid work women have done in the pandemic tracing positive cases, promoting public health measures and delivering vaccines. It is a contradiction that this valuable work appears to have no economic value. It is also a contradiction that some of the world’s poorest women take on this work in addition to their already heavy load of domestic and subsistence work.

Against this backdrop, Women in Global Health, in collaboration with the Frontline Health Worker Coalition will hold a high-level, 90-minute event to launch WGH’s latest policy report , Subsidizing global health: Women’s unpaid work in health systems, marking World Health Worker Week (1-8 April).

Date: Apr 7, 2022 08:00 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Iot-4cZiQRWbSqOGl4xVaw