Social health protection for gender equality

Based on the ILO Working Paper No. 132 “Making social protection work for gender equality: what does it look like? how do we get there?”, this ILO policy brief calls for making gender a core consideration in the design and implementation of social health protection policies and schemes. This objective includes formulating benefit packages that reflect women’s health needs throughout their lives, making quality services available close to where women live and strengthening financial protection measures that rely on broad risk pooling. By addressing both gender-specific healthcare needs and social determinants of health inequalities, social health protection can play a key role in promoting gender equality in terms of access to healthcare services and health outcomes.