Gender equity in health sector reform.The various health sector reforms undertaken throughout our region in the past several years have included a theoretical commitment to guaranteeing universal access to high-quality health care for all people. In several countries of Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. and the Caribbean, these processes are well underway. Already there are countless studies analyzing the implementation of the health sector reforms and other initiatives to monitor their impact.For example, through the project "Gender, Equity and Health Sector Reform in Chile," the Pan American Health Organization The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is an international public health agency with 100 years of experience in working to improve health and living standards of the countries of the Americas. It serves as the specialized organization for health of the Inter-American System. (PAHO PAHO Pan American Health Organization (WHO) ) has provided technical and financial support for the establishment of an Observatory on Gender Equity in Health, which recently was left to the participating civil society organizations. The Observatory offers tools for monitoring and evaluating the impact of these public health policies and for strengthening civil society organizations to undertake advocacy for equity in health, especially with regard to gender. For more information, visit the Observatory's website, www.observatoriogenerosalud.cl. In addition, since 1998 the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Women's Health Definition Women's health is the effect of gender on disease and health that encompasses a broad range of biological and psychosocial issues. Network has offered the International Courses on Gender Perspectives in Health as part of the Itinerant University project in the region. Through the overarching focus of "Gender, Globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation and Health Sector Reform," the Itinerant University applies a gender perspective to the process of health sector reform in the context of globalization and the neoliberal ne·o·lib·er·al·ism n. A political movement beginning in the 1960s that blends traditional liberal concerns for social justice with an emphasis on economic growth. ne model, which have led to a paradigm shift A dramatic change in methodology or practice. It often refers to a major change in thinking and planning, which ultimately changes the way projects are implemented. For example, accessing applications and data from the Web instead of from local servers is a paradigm shift. See paradigm. from health as a right to health as a commodity with a clear impact on the health of women. For more information, visit LACWHN's website, www.reddesalud.org. As a contribution to these processes of reflection and monitoring, we offer the following article comparing reform experiences in the region. The author, Argentinean expert Debora Tajer, presented this material in the context of LACWHN's first English-language Itinerant University in Suriname, December 2005. |
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