Gender
According to the United Nations, gender equality is fundamental to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, affecting access to quality health care, exposure to health risks, and the outcomes of disease and disability—for children and parents alike. Improvements in health, from lower child mortality to greater access to reproductive care, can alter the power to access gender-related rights and freedoms. This section examines the new ways in which health and gender intersect and reinforce each other
Gender
8%
Online-only abortion clinics were found to account for 8% of abortions in the first half of 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Challenge to Abortion Pills Could Boost Illegal Imports
Four Times
Women do up to four times more unpaid care work than men, a gap that will take 210 years to close
Seeking Gender Equality in the Global Health Workforce
16%
Unsafe abortions already make up 16% of all maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa
Roe's Repeal Inspires Abortion Rollbacks in Other Countries
48 Million
82.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced by the end of 2020—more than half were women and girls
Displaced girls and women
38 Percent
Globally, 38 percent of males between the ages of 15 and 49 are drinking harmful amounts of alcohol
Young Men and Alcohol
70 Percent
70 percent of health-care workers are women
Women health-care workers
11 Percent
Women and girls were 11 percent more likely to drop out of school during the COVID pandemic compared to boys
Education, girls, and COVID-19
1 in 4
One in four U.S. women will have an abortion by age 45
Abortion in the United States
Featured
A Stillbirth Every 10 Seconds
A new study estimates global stillbirths down to 20 weeks' gestation
A Kansas Physician on Post-Roe Abortion Care
An OB-GYN explains the realities of abortion care after Dobbs and how providers are handling the patient overflows
Post-Roe Era Tests Abortion Laws Worldwide
As abortion comes under fire in the United States, some countries have taken a stance toward expanding access
With Antimicrobial Resistance, Women and Children Face Highest Risks
One in five deaths from antimicrobial resistance involved a child younger than 5, and women face increased vulnerability
Recognizing Trauma in Boys and Men
Many social and institutional barriers deter men's access to proper care for mental illness
Illustrating Change: Diversity in Medical Textbooks
Three illustrators discuss how diversity can help providers recognize how diseases manifest across different people
India Is Unprepared for a PCOS Crisis
Further research and evidence-based guidelines could help reconcile the increasingly common endocrine disorder
Extreme Heat Taxes Africa's Women and Reproduction
Many women in Africa have little or no protection against extreme heat events in their day-to-day lives
A Nightmare for Pregnant Women in Gaza
An on-the-scene health worker explains how Gaza could lose a generation if pregnant women remain at risk
Olympics Spotlight Gender-Informed Injury Prevention
Some types of injuries are more common among young women athletes
Addressing Mississippi's Maternal Health-Care Shortage
State regulations and payment systems have prevented the growth of freestanding birth centers
Empowering Native Mothers Through Midwifery
A nurse-midwife from the Navajo Nation on why there's now enough data to advance Indigenous birthing policy
U.S. Supreme Court Weighs Emergency Abortion Care
In Idaho v. United States, the stakes are high for health workers, pregnant patients, and abortion care
Zimbabwe's Review of Restrictive Abortion Laws
Activists are calling for a review of a decades-old abortion law to increase protections for women and girls