Women and their empowerment in global health leadership

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Sophia Aguja, a 22-year-old medical student at the Faculty of Medicine of Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala. 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.

The world opened its eyes about women advancement through the UN Charter in San Francisco in 1945. Since then, women held some leadership aspects, though they are still many facts proving that women are marginalized in some parts of the world. 

The practice of prioritizing the improvement of health for all and achieving health equity that includes studies and researchers is simply known as global health. It is about improvement in health, access to health care services and the quality of health care for all.  With health being a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, according to world economic forum, also women are more than two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate people. Moreover, they are underdiagnosed for certain health conditions compared to men and underrepresented in numerous leadership positions. Therefore, we all need to join forces to promote, motivate and empower all women in global health especially encourage them to be among decision makers.

Providing women with opportunities to take over the leadership in global health will not only bring different perspectives, experiences and new decision on board but also address health challenges with new innovations. Quoting Maya Angelou “how important is it for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes’, women in global health leadership are role models for future generations and a foundation to a sustainable global health initiative. They are examples to cut off myths and boundaries that pulls away women from global health, therefore it is building strong women in global health for the future. 

Empowering women is also addressing gender specific health issues and solving them by changing actions that roots in their own minds. Furthermore, it will be achieved by boosting education, awareness, sensitizing and economic empowerment to capacitate them to take actions in global health that sometimes had previously denied them. Equal distribution of leadership opportunities among both genders in global health will ensure political empowerment in global health and implementing policies that deliver concrete impact driven activities in global health. 

Inviting women to take over the position in global health leadership is welcoming someone who is good at multitasking, people who are good communicators, and great people who value work-life balances. As Sherly Sandberg said, I also aspire a future where there will be no female leaders, instead, there will be just leaders. This is the right moment to connect women worldwide, inform them and allow them to share ideas, insight, challenges, and expertise in global health. 

Generally, today is the day to create women of value, integrity, commitment, and role models in global health. Empowering women in global health is not only my responsibility, but yours and theirs. All nations should stand together and build up the next generation of women with sense of self worth with the ability to make their own choices and understanding that they are no limit to what they can accomplish.  

About the author

Sophia Aguja is a 22-year-old medical student at the Faculty of Medicine of Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala. She is also part of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations since 2020. She is passionate about the issue of gender equity and equality in the medical field, both for female doctors and patients. 

She aspires to be a world leader in medicine, helping her country and the world to fight the problems that negatively impact global health.