The impact of health policies and health sector reform on the readiness of health systems to respond to women’s health needs, with special focus on reproductive health, reproductive rights and HIV/AIDS
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Date
2005
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) Expert Group Meeting
Abstract
This paper examines how health policies and health reforms that have been implemented have
impacted on the health and well-being of women, with emphasis on reproductive health, rights
and HIV/AIDS. It tries to consider how health policies and reforms have tried to improve health
systems to respond to health needs of women. Women’s health has been the focus of both
international and national state policies. However, many current health policies have tended to
regard sexual and reproductive health and rights of women as insignificant. Further health sector
reforms that have been implemented by many countries have tended to focus on their
implications for the poor, with a few policy makers explicitly taking gender issues into
consideration. What needs to be understood is whether the health sector reforms are reducing
gender inequality. Some evidence suggests that reforms can produce negative impacts on
maternal health service provision and use as changes can strain working relationships or
overload health workers (MacIntyre and Klugman, 2003). Yet in other settings, indicators such
as maternal mortality rates, decreased as a result of the reforms (Parkhurst et al, 2004). It has
been observed that Health sector reforms are complex processes affecting the local systems in
which individuals work – shifting incentive structures, regulatory mechanisms, and paths of
accountability. They can also change the macro environment of health systems, reorganizing
staff numbers and placements, and creating new structures and hierarchies within the health
sector (Parkhurst et al 2004).
Description
Keywords
Health policies, Health sector, Health systems, Women’s health needs, Reproductive health, HIV/AIDS
Citation
Neema, S. (2005, November). The impact of health policies and health sector reform on the readiness of health systems to respond to women's health needs, with special focus on reproductive health, reproductive rights and HIV/AIDS. In UN Division for Advancement of Women (DAW) Experts Group Meeting.