Gender Equity in Health: The Shifting Frontiers of Evidence and Action

by Gita Sen (Editor), Piroska Östlin (Editor)

Overview

This volume brings together experts from a variety of disciplines, such as medicine, biology, sociology, epidemiology, anthropology, economics and political science, who focus on three areas: health disparities and inequity due to gender, the specific problems women face in meeting the highest attainable standards of health, and the policies and actions that can address them. Highlighting the importance of intersecting social hierarchies (e.g. gender, class and ethnicity) for understanding health inequities and their implications for health policy, contributors detail and recommend policy approaches and agendas that incorporate, but go beyond commonly acknowledged issues relating to women’s health and gender equity in health.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135238155
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/16/2009
Series:	Routledge Studies in Health and Social Welfare
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	340
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Gita Sen is Professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India, and Adjunct Professor of Population and International Health at the Faculty of Public Health, Harvard University.

Piroska Östlin is a public health scientist with a Ph.D. in Medical Science from the University of Uppsala in Sweden. She is Associate Professor of public health at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Table of Contents

1. Gender as a Social Determinant of Health: Evidence, Policies and Innovations Gita Sen and Piroska Östlin 2. The Social Body: Gender and the Burden of Disease Rachel Snow 3. Inequalities and Intersections in Health: A Review of the Evidence Aditi Iyer, Gita Sen and Piroska Östlin 4. Gendered Health Outcomes of an "Endless" War on Terror Rosalind Petchesky and Melissa Laurie 5. Gender, Health and Poverty in Latin America Karina Batthyany and Sonia Corrêa 6. Gender Norms and Empowerment: ‘What Works’ to Increase Equity for Women and Girls Helen Keleher 7. Challenging Gender in Patient-Provider Interactions Veloshnee Govender and Loveday Penn-Kekana 8. Exploring the Gendered Dimensions of Human Resources for Health Asha George 9. Accountability to Citizens on Gender and Health Ranjani K. Murthy 10. Gender Mainstreaming in Health: The Emperor’s New Clothes? T.K.S. Ravindran and A. Kelkar-Khambete

Editorial Reviews

"This book puts the weight of analytical frameworks and evidence behind the all too common tragedies of avoidable death, unnecessary illness, and health injustices that beset so many girls and women and also boys and men. It pushes the frontiers of our thinking about the barriers to justice and also provides compelling contemporary material which can - and should - be marshalled to support a right-to-health approach to gender and health."

Paul Hunt

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health (2002-2008)

"This volume is a unique source of knowledge, inspiration and practical recommendations that go beyond the scope of many previous publications on gender and health. It brings together the evidence base, reflects on and synthesizes key messages, and crosses the needed extra mile to tie research to policy. An extraordinary mix of experiences and backgrounds have shaped it to be truly special. A must read for the many constituencies that are troubled by gender injustices and are seeking to reform the muted and often ill conceived policy actions that attempt to deal with them."

Hoda Rashad

Research Professor and Director, Social Research Center, American University in Cairo

"One cannot act on the social determinants of health globally without considering the position of women. This book lays out most impressively how the structures of society impact on women's health. It brings together an impressive group of authors and presents the definitive view of gender inequity and what to do about it."

Michael Marmot

Chair, WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health

From the Publisher