List of Women in Global Health - Sweden

 

The visibility and recognition of women as leaders and experts in global health remains a challenge. Too often, we witness panels of men and gender imbalanced scientific gatherings and other meetings in which the expertise of women is rarely included or acknowledged. Evidence shows that women comprise 70% of the global health workforce but only make up 25% of the top leadership positions. The Global Health 50/50 report revealed that decision-making power remains concentrated in the hands of men, with men leading 70% of global health organizations and 80% of boards of these organizations. Professional recognition contributes to career advancement and lifetime achievement; yet, in the past 10 years, only 10% of public health and medicine awards were given to women.

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In line with the values of WGH, we believe that in order to promote gender equality in global health leadership, we must pay careful attention to ensure diversity and that we acknowledge the roles of women from all countries and regions, also by forming different WGH chapters, namely Germany, Norway, USA and a Francophone chapter.

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WGH chapter in Sweden will initially be hosted by the Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation (SIGHT). The objective of the Swedish chapter is to increase the visibility of women in the global health network and beyond, to extend the network opportunities, to meet regularly and to foster mutual support. It will serve as an easy reference to these women to be taken into consideration for leadership positions, decision-making bodies, and presentations and talks on panels and conferences. 

 

[1] We use Koplan et al.’s definition of global health published in The Lancet (2009; pp 1993-5): an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide.