Women’s role in global health: a bonfire of brilliance

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Johanna Säkkinen, a 21-year-old medical student, writer and peace advocate from Finland. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Throughout history, the medical world has viewed women as secondary to men. Several diseases have been described according to how they present in male patients whereas women’s experiences are often neglected and remain poorly documented even to this day. Medical research has also set the male body as a standard for almost any scientific experiment further contributing to the lack of comprehensive knowledge in terms of diagnostics. Consequently, women and minorities are 30 % more likely to receive false diagnoses compared to white men.

While modern medicine has relinquished the most curious of conducts such as blaming female patients for witchcraft for something as supernatural as mental health disorders, still nothing too revolutionary has happened to spark sufficient equality within the field. Women comprise about 70 % of the health workforce yet their representation in global health leadership sums up to a moderate 25 % of the senior positions and 5 % of the top positions. This leaves no question as to whether women are underrepresented in global health or not. The disparity exists despite the profound expertise and diverse understanding women in medicine demonstrate each day.

Not only does global health need female leaders to stand up for the rights of their fellow sisters but to pinpoint issues that women, according to research, are more likely to address in comparison to men such as educational and community-based problems as well as struggles faced by minorities. Women have stood too long in the shadow of the surrounding male bodies and the development, despite being positive, lacks the power to highlight and counteract the inequity women have been exposed to throughout history.

How could the current situation be altered to better align with the reality of health care systems internationally? Recognizing women’s competence lies at the heart of any credible decision-making process: deliberate exclusion of adequate female representation will only result in further misery and human suffering rather than abridge the already existing health gap. Empowering women to voice their opinions and pursue the higher positions traditionally reserved for male candidates is essential. Women ought to receive equal opportunities in change-making through modern career support, accessible leadership education and careful reconsideration of interwoven attitudes worldwide.

Ever so often cultural aspects pose challenges to female empowerment and career development. The archaic perception of assertive and outspoken women as quirky ’Penelopes’ still persists to a somewhat exhausting degree. However, breaking barriers and creating role models for younger generations is an invaluable tool in promoting prevalent change. Reducing health effects caused by violent conflicts to enhancing diagnostic procedures takes courage to shatter harmful patterns and question traditional gender roles. A hint of witchcraft — as female disobedience is often termed in history — is highly recommended, too. Most certainly the resulting surge in the number of spells and potions to make health care more accurate and accessible to everyone might take the whole global health community by surprise.

About the author

Johanna Säkkinen is a 21-year-old medical student, writer and peace advocate from Finland. She seeks to understand diverse societal phenomena and explore the qualities of the human mind in connection to collective well-being. Through her work in different organizations, she has promoted the youth role in conflict management and peace mediation as well as spoken out for underrepresented groups in society. In her leisure time, she is often engaged in various artistic pursuits — whether it be dancing ballet or writing poems.