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5C. HEALTH CARE
48 WHO European Healthy Cities Network (2018), 'Gender and Health Survey key findings', available at: https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/382408/gender-health-report-eng.pdf
49 CEMR, 'Observatory European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life: #InvolveMen digital resource pack', see at: https://charter-equality.eu/multimedia/%20publications/involvemen-digital-resource-pack.html
Gender differences exist in terms of health care access and needs, both with regard to physical and mental health. For example, heart attacks in women often go unnoticed because their symptoms are different than men s, while mental health challenges are often underreported in men with tragic consequences. Significant gender disparities also exist within healthcare as a profession. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus just how many front line workers are women and people of colour. Labour market segregation in care professions also means that a large proportion of workers in eldercare and other forms of healthcare provision are women, and particularly women of colour and women with a migration background. Municipal programmes and policies can shape health care provision and guide employment regulations, similar to other segregated labour market sectors. As with other policy fields, cities play an important role in implementing national and regional health care and social policies on the local level, and pilot programmes and
innovation on the local level can help to inform changes on other levels of governance. For example, the municipality of Trondheim (Norway) has developed a programme to increase the number of men in healthcare professions; this case is described in more detail below. In addition, the city of Pozńan (Poland) provides free healthcare to all residents of the city, including migrant women not eligible for free healthcare, at Intimate Prevention Points, which provide 24-hour free gynaecological consultation and examination, including support for victims of sexual violence, access to emergency contraception and screening for STDs. These resources mean that also those residents outside the formal healthcare system have access to reproductive health support. In an additional resource for cities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Healthy Cities Network has explored the intersection of SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing) and 5 (gender equality) in a recent report48, which offers a tool to assess and guide action on gender and health at the city level.
Increasing the number of men in healthcare professions [Trondheim, Norway]
The municipality of Trondheim has developed Men in health care professions, a programme to increase the number of men in healthcare professions49. Run by the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) in cooperation with NAV (work and welfare directorate), the Health directorate and county governors, the project offers unemployed adult men a professional retraining education programme in the health care sector. The programme is incentivised through the provision of either benefits from the state or a salary from their municipality to all participants. Health Recruits , the name given to participants, challenge gendered labour market segregation and enter occupations traditionally labelled as feminine . Trondheim aimed to provide over 300 men vocational certificates through the programme by the end of 2019. Since its inception (nearly 10 years ago), 1,871 men have become health recruits.
[ CALL TO ACTION ] Do you want to take a closer look at how gender equity can be addressed through health systems? Check out the WHO report.
Case Study
