The session, titled “A Pathway to Change,” explored the critical role of the SAGER Guidelines in addressing gender bias in research and driving systemic change toward a more gender-responsive research ecosystem. Dr. Heidari shared the story behind the development of these essential guidelines, offering valuable insights into how they aim to close the gender data gap and contribute to achieving #HealthForAll.
The event brought together professionals and advocates passionate about advancing gender equity in research, sparking engaging conversations on actionable pathways to create an inclusive and equitable global health landscape.
A big thank you to all participants for joining this inspiring session and contributing to the dialogue on building a fairer, more inclusive research ecosystem.
We were thrilled to host Professor Sara (Meg) Davis from the Digital Health and Rights Project (DHRP) at the University of Warwick and James Kiilu from the University of Nairobi, who presented a preview of their forthcoming report, “Towards People-Centered Digital Health Strategies: Gender, Equity, Rights, and Inclusion.”
This event offered a fantastic opportunity to delve into critical discussions around digital health strategies and their implications for gender and rights. Attendees explored the importance of inclusive approaches that promote equity and inclusion in digital health.
As part of GENDRO’s GEH Network, this session brought together actors from academia, civil society, UN agencies, and other entities to share the latest developments and discuss opportunities to promote the integration of sex and gender dimensions in research, innovation, data analysis, health policies, and programs.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this impactful discussion. Together, we continue to foster dialogue and collaboration to advance equity and rights in digital health!
Despite the growing rhetoric around women’s health, the increasing recognition of gender bias in health research and data, and the seeming rallying behind gender equality, why does progress towards gender equality and equity in health remain so slow, fragmented, and fragile? This question is at the heart of Sophie Harman’s Sick of It: The Global Fight for Women’s Health.
Harman presents many real-life examples to illustrate how women’s health is exploited “as a means of attaining and sustaining power in the world”. She challenges this “sick politics” and examines “how using and abusing women’s health for political ends works and how it stops us making real strides in women’s health”. Notably, she proposes steps for driving change through solidarity politics.
This special session was organized by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, Sex and Gender in Health and Disease (SGHD) Scientific Interest Group (SIG). The primary focus of the webinar was to delve into the impacts of sex (as a biological variable) and gender (as a social construct) on health and disease throughout the lifespan. The webinar facilitated a conversation to look back at the progress made, and new ongoing efforts and have a forward-looking conversation on how to accelerate progress. following the insightful presentation by Drs. Natasha A. Karp (Biostatistics Director at AstraZeneca) and Barbara Stranger (Professor at the University of Chicago), and Shirin Heidari (President of GENDRO), provided an overview of the development of the SAGER guidelines and its success to date and its potential to driving systemic changes in the research ecosystem.
