Health systems and gender in post-conflict contexts: building back better?

Percival, V, Dusabe-Richards, Esther, Maclean, T and Theobald, Sally ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9053-211X (2014) 'Health systems and gender in post-conflict contexts: building back better?'. Conflict and Health, Vol 8, e19.

Preview

Text Conflict_Health_8_19.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (254kB)

Abstract

The post-conflict or post-crisis period provides the opportunity for wide-ranging public sector reforms: donors fund rebuilding and reform efforts, social norms are in a state of flux, and the political climate may be conducive to change. This reform period presents favourable circumstances for the promotion of gender equity in multiple social arenas, including the health system. As part of a larger research project that explores whether and how gender equity considerations are taken into account in the reconstruction and reform of health systems in conflict-affected and post conflict countries, we undertook a narrative literature review based on the questions “How gender sensitive is the reconstruction and reform of health systems in post conflict countries, and what factors need to be taken into consideration to build a gender equitable health system?” We used the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) six building blocks as a framework for our analysis; these six building blocks are: 1) health service delivery/provision, 2) human resources, 3) health information systems, 4) health system financing, 5) medical products and technologies, and 6) leadership and governance.

The limited literature on gender equity in health system reform in post conflict settings demonstrates that despite being an important political and social objective of the international community’s engagement in conflict-affected states, gender equity has not been fully integrated into post-conflict health system reform. Our review was therefore iterative in nature: To establish what factors need to be taken into consideration to build gender equitable health systems, we reviewed health system reforms in low and middle-income settings. We found that health systems literature does not sufficiently address the issue of gender equity. With this finding, we reflected on the key components of a gender-equitable health system that should be considered as part of health system reform in conflict-affected and post-conflict states. Given the benefits of gender equity for broader social and economic well-being, it is clearly in the interests of donors and policy makers to address this oversight in future health reform efforts.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.conflictandhealth.com/content/8/1/19
Subjects:	W General Medicine. Health Professions > Health Services. Patients and Patient Advocacy > W 84 Health services. Delivery of health care WA Public Health > WA 20.5 Research (General) WA Public Health > WA 30 Socioeconomic factors in public health (General) WA Public Health > Health Administration and Organization > WA 540 National and state health administration
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-8-19
Depositing User:	Faye Moody
Date Deposited:	28 May 2015 14:54
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:10
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/5173

Statistics

View details

Actions (login required)

Edit Item