WI-HER contributes to newly released Gender and Health Systems Strengthening E-learning course
Press Release on August 11, 2014
We would like to announce the release of an e-learning course entitled Gender Integration and Health Systems Strengthening. Led by IntraHealth International through the USAID-funded CapacityPlus Project, this course will assist users to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in health systems strengthening efforts so that health systems better meet the health needs of women, men, girls and boys. Dr. Taroub Harb Faramand, USAID ASSIST Senior Gender Technical Advisor and Founder and President of WI-HER LLC, participated in the development of the course under the USAID Health Care Improvement Project (HCI). Dr. Faramand led the development of the service delivery module and provided technical input to all other modules, including providing examples and case studies.
This course examines how each of six health system components described in the World Health Organization’s health systems model—service delivery; workforce; information; medical products, vaccines, and technologies; financing; and leadership and governance—interact with each other. In addition, it explores the gender issues in each health systems component, and how to address these gender issues in health systems strengthening activities in order to improve health and social outcomes. WI-HER, along with other collaborators, used engaging adult learning techniques that allow participants to practice newly-developed skills and ensure effectiveness, accountability, and enhanced capability to use data for decision making using gender-sensitive indicators and enhance the analysis of sex-disaggregated data to close gender gaps.
Promoting gender equality in policy, governance, and social participation leads to more equitable health systems and greater access to services and, as a result, improved health outcomes for all. Using a continual progress monitoring to strengthen the multiple dynamic relations among all health systems components can contribute to improved outcomes in access, coverage, quality, and safety; improved health; health system responsiveness and efficiency; social and financial risk protection; and gender equality.
The Gender Integration and Health Systems Strengthening course is hosted on the USAID Global Health eLearning Center and was developed for a global audience. To take the course for free, please visit: http://www.globalhealthlearning.org/course/gender-and-health-systems-strengthening