Higher Education and Health, Equity, and Gender – a cross-disciplinary discussion and call for action

“Health is a human right, and we should all have access to health. How can we promote this?” thus, moderator Gemma Marfany, Professor of Genetics, University of Barcelona, opened “Exploring the nexus between health, equity, and gender”, a virtual debate held on 7 June and co-hosted by the International Association of Universities (IAU) and the Open University of Catalunya (UOC) in collaboration with IAU HESD SDG3 cluster members.

The webinar shed light on the main barriers to health access related to gender inequalities and the drivers and limits of e-heath as a solution. 

Dr Hilligje Vant’Land, IAU Secretary General, opened the discussion by stressing the importance of the topic and its connection to gender and health in a higher education and research context. A lively conversation unfolded with speakers providing real-life examples from practice during the pandemic and the impact on health access. 

Panellist Retna Siwi, Professor, University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, stressed that health outcomes within the community are influenced by socioecological factors, governmental policy and actions. Therefore, all social groups must have access to ensure equity, especially the most disadvantaged.  

Indeed, Lídia Arroyo, Sociologist, Researcher on Gender and ICT, UOC, Spain, clearly framed the link between gender inequalities and health, explaining that women are disproportionally disadvantaged regarding health-related issues and access to health care. Equally so, women generally provide first assistance health care. Studies reveal that more often than men, women search for health-related information online, usually for themselves and their families. In addition, evidence shows that women from low-income groups tend not to check the reliability of online information sources. In contrast, women from high-income groups have a greater tendency to verify information. In this context, conscious use of online information is crucial for implementing e-health services in our society. 

Edward Bichetero, Senior Technical Officer of Data Science and Informatics, Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Support (METS) Program, Makerere University, Uganda, pointed out that e-health could provide better access to health and reduce the distances and costs for health access. However, he reported that in Uganda, there is a lack of infrastructure to access e-health services resulting in a digital divide issue. For instance, families often have one phone, usually managed by husbands, so wives have to request use from the husband. Therefore, e-health should be seen as an integrated tool for universal health policies supported at the national level and not only by local initiatives. 

Turning to the Covid-19 pandemic, the spotlight was put on the nexus between gender equity and health by Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR and Midwifery, University of West Sydney, Australia. Issues we have known for centuries are still here and are even more exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. For instance, more women had vulnerable jobs and were at greater risk of unemployment. Also, they faced a greater risk of experiencing and not being able to report domestic violence. Hannah also explained that during Covid-19, “maintaining reproductive health care was not a luxury but a matter of life and death”. 

An Australian study reported that access to e-health during the pandemic represented a positive experience during pregnancy and maternity. Women felt that it was more convenient, easy to access in remote settings, flexible and decreased the risk of Covid-19 infection. Nevertheless, they also felt that e-health should be a choice, not a mandate. Often women said that when using e-health, they experienced a lack of human connection.

During the wrap-up, speakers underlined the importance of learning from a crisis, as with the Covid-19 pandemic, when it comes to health access and gender equity. They advocated the tremendous potential of technologies to reduce inequalities in health access without forgetting the importance of guaranteeing universal health care as a basic global human right. Having shared recommendations and takeaways specific to their regions, they recognized that these outputs could be adapted in other areas of the world.

In her closing remarks, Marta Aymerich, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Research, UOC, stressed the need for action and collaboration. She reminded the participants: “Gender equality is one of the most important drivers of health equality, and only a change in culture, norms, values, and practices can help break the bias in health practice and theory”. 

Read the full recap from UOC:

Infographic created by the Open University of Catalunya: