Have Policies Tackled Gender Inequalities in Health? A Scoping Review

Nuria Crespí-Lloréns, Ildefonso Hernández-Aguado and Elisa Chilet-Rosell
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Nuria Crespí-Lloréns: Preventive Medicine Service, Hospital General de Elche, 03203 Elche, Spain
Ildefonso Hernández-Aguado: Department of Public Health, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, 03550 Alicante, Spain
Elisa Chilet-Rosell: Department of Public Health, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, 03550 Alicante, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Gender is recognized as one of the most relevant determinants of health inequalities. This scoping review sought to identify and analyse policies, either implemented or formulated as proposals, which aimed to reduce gender inequalities in health. We searched Medline, Web of Science, and Scielo. Of 2895 records, 91 full text articles were analysed, and 33 papers were included. Of these papers, 22 described the process of formulation, implementation, or evaluation of policies whose aim was to reduce gender inequalities in health; six focused on recommendations, and the remaining five dealt with both issues. Our review showed that the policies aimed at reducing gender inequalities in health, either implemented or formulated as proposals, are scarce. Moreover, despite some success, overall progress has been slow. The studies show failures in design and particularly in the implementation process. We found a lack of awareness and capacity in the policy-making progress, under-financing, bureaucratization, shortage of relevant data, and absence of women’s participation in decision-making. Therefore, an emphasis on the design and implementation of gender-sensitive policies seems essential to advance gender equality in health. This scoping review gathers evidence to support the design of such policies and recommendations that can facilitate their implementation.

Keywords: gender policies; health inequalities; gender mainstreaming; gender equality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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