BIO 2022 | Where Health Meets Policy: Addressing Gender Equity through Health

Investing in women’s and girls’ health does not just make their lives better, it has a multiplier effect that extends far beyond them, benefiting their families, their workplaces, their communities, and their countries as a whole. And when international health systems and national policies are designed through a gender lens, they can go a long way in providing service to traditionally underserved groups and address unmet health needs, while empowering those within the healthcare system. As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, inequities have led to women and girls being disproportionally impacted. For example, an estimated 12 million women experienced disruptions in their family planning services due to the pandemic – resulting in 1.4 million unintended pregnancies during 2020 across 115 low- and middle-income countries. From the standpoint of social returns, supporting women’s access to proper healthcare and health information is an investment in a better future for all. Join this panel of high-level government decision-makers as well as industry and policy experts to learn how to better integrate a gender lens into healthcare systems and what the future holds in the path to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for global health and economic prosperity.