By Myrna Sachs, head of Health Management Solutions at Alexforbes.
Women’s Month is a timely reminder to address healthcare equality for South African women through education, especially the gender healthcare gap.
Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed
The medical industry downplays patients’ symptoms, which means that women are more likely to be misdiagnosed than men. Despite several transformative and progressive policies and laws aimed at advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality, women still face adverse health outcomes such as sexually transmitted illnesses, gender-based violence and others. This leads to health complications and other unfavourable socio-demographic outcomes according to The Status of Women’s Health in South Africa, published by Statistics South Africa in March 2022.
Women face barriers to receiving healthcare services
Women are less likely to be prioritised for education and job opportunities, which makes it more difficult for them to afford and seek help for social and health problems. International research has shown that women who belong to the LGBTQIA+ community are less likely to receive preventative screening, given that sexual histories are based on heterosexual models which emphasise reproductive health.
Know your constitutional rights
South Africa’s Constitution and the Bill of Rights grant all South Africans access to healthcare services. A core component in South Africa’s aspiration towards gender equality is ensuring that women can receive safe, adequate and gender-sensitive healthcare services. However, in 2016, a South African investigation into gender inequalities in morbidity found that South African women are more likely to suffer from poor health than men. This health gap is largely driven by a relatively higher prevalence of health conditions in women rather than by severity. Researchers called for measures to reduce the occurrence of health conditions.
Medical research proposed by women, for women, receives less funding
Caroline Criado Perez, author of the book Invisible women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, claims women have been considered less important in healthcare as far back as ancient Greece. She says the problem still exists due to a patriarchal world view prevalent in healthcare systems. Women are underrepresented in clinical trials, and medical research proposed by women, for women, is not allotted the same funding as medical research proposed by men, for men.
Steps to improving women’s healthcare outcomes
Dealing with communicable diseases requires collaboration between individuals, employers, government and communities to implement customised services for various communities across the country. These include:
- health education
- awareness of how to prevent getting infected and when to be concerned
- access to testing services
- treatment services
In South Africa, communicable diseases such as HIV are among the top three most prevalent health conditions among women – Statistics South Africa said women who don’t live in cities still bear the brunt of the HIV epidemic. Persisting new infections in young females aged between 15 and 35 years old show:
- a lack of knowledge of how HIV is spread
- gender inequality, which prevents women from insisting on safer sexual practices
- poverty where young girls are exploited in exchange for financial gains
Sexually transmitted diseases are another common presenting problem among women, and educational programmes could help combat these healthcare problems.
Mental health issues
Mental health conditions remain undiagnosed for both men and women due to stigma and lack of knowledge. More women, however, are diagnosed with mental health conditions than men, likely as a result of men being socialised differently about expressing their emotional and mental challenges. For women the focus should include social issues that lead to mental health issues such as gender-based violence and discrimination in the workplace.
Gender equality needed in healthcare
Healthy women are empowered to make decisions about their lives, meaning they will be more economically empowered and can contribute more to society. To achieve this, appropriate healthcare and gender equality are required. Despite many strategies and solutions which have been mooted, much still needs to be done to reach targets in bettering women’s health.