Problem
Discrimination against women in health care
Other Names:
Inequity in medical treatment of womenWithholding health care due to gender
Sexual prejudice in life-saving care
Nature:
Women may be denied medical treatment or receive inferior health care because of their sex, to the point where it costs their life.
Incidence:
In Afghanistan since 1997, doctors have been prevented by the Taleban government from treating women in all but a few hospitals, and in those few hospitals facilities were lacking or sadly deficient. Fundamentalist Islamic regulations are the stated cause for many of the restrictions in treating women's health problems. For example, government officials can prohibit male doctors from undressing female patients.
In the USA, women are one of the groups discriminated against by the medical profession. There and in other countries, health service providers and insurance companies may fail to treat specifically female health concerns with the same funding or attention as they do general health concerns or specifically male health problems, or they may simply take less trouble to diagnose female health problems compared to those of white males.
Broader Problems:
Sexual discriminationLack of health insurancesInadequate health servicesInaccessibility of insuranceDiscrimination against women Aggravates:
Dehumanization of health careRefusal to provide medical treatmentInadequate insurance against pregnancyNon-use of available health facilitiesMisallocation of resources in health services Subject(s):
Health Care → CareHealth Care → Treatment
Societal Problems → Crime
Societal Problems → Safety
Society → Sex-related questions
Society → Women
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
E: Emanations of other problems Date of last update
05.08.2019 – 22:47 CEST