ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Apr, 2023 ) :Former Surgeon General of Pakistan Army Lieutenant General (Retd ) Dr Nigar Johar Khan has said that women must free themselves of fears to break all barriers, but rather work alongside men as the health sector needed gender partnership.
She was speaking at a seminar titled "Women Leadership in Health" organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute on World Health Day, here, said a news release on Monday.
She said that women constitute two-thirds of the healthcare workforce yet female representation dwindles as "we progress up the hierarchy".
She urged for collective efforts and changing mindset to break stereotypes and norms that hold back women and stressed that empowered women must use their positions to empower other women.
Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, Parliamentary Secretary, MoNHSR&C, stressed the role of women legislators in increasing access of women to quality health services especially during disasters through female-centric policies and engaging with women at the grass-roots level.
Dr Abid Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI, said that the SDGs' agenda of leaving no one behind was unattainable without a gendered analysis of policies. He further said that gender-blind policies fail to deliver to different segments of society particularly in climate disasters and reflect in PSDPs and macro-economic policies. He added women struggle to break the horizontal and vertical glass ceiling in Pakistan and despite having a female Prime Minister, Pakistan had its first female Lieutenant General after 75 years of independence.
Dr Shabnam Sarfaraz, Deputy Executive Director, Women in Global Health, said that women were clustered in lower status and low payment roles in the health sector and highlighted that the global gender pay gap in health was -24% making female professionals grossly underpaid.
She pointed out that female students take up 70% of medical college seats, outperforming male students yet only 46% of them continue practice after graduation while only 35% female doctors opt for a post-graduate qualification. She added that there was an alarming 21% exit rate among female doctors after marriage due to gender-insensitive career advancement practices.
Dr Nabeela Ali, Country Representative, JSI Research and Training Institute, urged for abolishing unwritten gender norms hindering female healthcare professionals from excelling in their careers. She said these hurdles not only reflect in hierarchy but also undermine the delivery of healthcare services. She stressed that the presence of women in leadership roles ensures better service delivery and could improve the health indicators of the country.
Dr Shamsa Masud, General Manager, Quaid-e-Azam International Hospital, said that women lack access to equal opportunities and face gender discrimination in promotion opportunities. She added female practitioners do not speak up against harassment out of fear of social stigma and retaliation at the workplace, causing higher exit rates.
Dr Razia Safdar, Advisor, Centre for Health Policy Initiatives, SDPI said that globally, 70% of the workforce in healthcare was female yet they only hold 25% of leadership positions while only 12% of global healthcare CEOs were women. She informed that Pakistan's situation of Pakistan was not very different as less than 10% medical colleges out of 114 are headed by women.
Professor Dr Aziz-un-Nisa, President, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan, highlighted that despite women making up 75% of healthcare professions, Pakistan's rural areas had 80% triple mortality rate. She stressed on advocacy to include gynaecologists at policy forums to address the female mortality rate.
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