- WHO report reveals gender inequalities at the root of global crisis in health and care work`A new report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), “Fair share for health and care: gender and the undervaluation of health and care work" illustrates how gender inequalities in health and care work negatively impact women, health systems and health outcomes. The report outlines underinvestment in health systems results in a vicious cycle of unpaid health and care work, lowering women’s participation in paid labour markets, harming women’s economic empowerment and hampering gender equality. Women comprise 67% of the paid global health and care workforce. In addition to this paid work, it has been estimated that women perform an estimated 76% of all unpaid care activities. Work that is done primarily by women tends to be paid less and have poor working conditions. The report highlights that low pay and demanding working conditions are commonly found in the health and care sector. Devaluing caregiving, which is work performed primarily by women, negatively impacts wages, working conditions, productivity and the economic footprint of the sector. The report illustrates that decades of chronic underinvestment in health and care work is contributing to a growing global crisis of care. With stagnation in progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), resulting in 4.5 billion people lacking full coverage of essential health services, women may take on even more unpaid care work. The deleterious impact of weak health systems combined with increasing unpaid health and care work are further straining the health of caregivers and the quality of services. “The ‘Fair share’ report highlights how gender-equitable investments in health and care work would reset the value of health and care and drive fairer and more inclusive economies,” said Jim Campbell, WHO Director for Health Workforce. “We are calling upon leaders, policy-makers and employers to action investment: it is time for a fair share for health and care.” The report presents policy levers to better value health and care work: Improve working conditions for all forms of health and care work, especially for highly feminised occupations Include women more equitably in the paid labour workforce Enhance conditions of work and wages in the health and care workforce and ensure equal pay for work of equal value Address the gender gap in care, support quality care work and uphold the rights and well-being of caregivers Ensure that national statistics account for, measure and value all health and care work Invest in robust public health systems Investments in health and care systems not only accelerate progress on UHC, they redistribute unpaid health and care work. When women participate in paid health and care employment, they are economically empowered and health outcomes are better. Health systems need to recognize, value and invest in all forms health and care work.
- Global child deaths reach historic low in 2022 – UN reportThe number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022, according to the latest estimates released today by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
- WHO report reveals gender inequalities at the root of global crisis in health and care work`A new report published by the World Health Organization (WHO), “Fair share for health and care: gender and the undervaluation of health and care work" illustrates how gender inequalities in health and care work negatively impact women, health systems and health outcomes. The report outlines underinvestment in health systems results in a vicious cycle of unpaid health and care work, lowering women’s participation in paid labour markets, harming women’s economic empowerment and hampering gender equality. Women comprise 67% of the paid global health and care workforce. In addition to this paid work, it has been estimated that women perform an estimated 76% of all unpaid care activities. Work that is done primarily by women tends to be paid less and have poor working conditions. The report highlights that low pay and demanding working conditions are commonly found in the health and care sector. Devaluing caregiving, which is work performed primarily by women, negatively impacts wages, working conditions, productivity and the economic footprint of the sector. The report illustrates that decades of chronic underinvestment in health and care work is contributing to a growing global crisis of care. With stagnation in progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), resulting in 4.5 billion people lacking full coverage of essential health services, women may take on even more unpaid care work. The deleterious impact of weak health systems combined with increasing unpaid health and care work are further straining the health of caregivers and the quality of services. “The ‘Fair share’ report highlights how gender-equitable investments in health and care work would reset the value of health and care and drive fairer and more inclusive economies,” said Jim Campbell, WHO Director for Health Workforce. “We are calling upon leaders, policy-makers and employers to action investment: it is time for a fair share for health and care.” The report presents policy levers to better value health and care work: Improve working conditions for all forms of health and care work, especially for highly feminised occupations Include women more equitably in the paid labour workforce Enhance conditions of work and wages in the health and care workforce and ensure equal pay for work of equal value Address the gender gap in care, support quality care work and uphold the rights and well-being of caregivers Ensure that national statistics account for, measure and value all health and care work Invest in robust public health systems Investments in health and care systems not only accelerate progress on UHC, they redistribute unpaid health and care work. When women participate in paid health and care employment, they are economically empowered and health outcomes are better. Health systems need to recognize, value and invest in all forms health and care work.
- Global child deaths reach historic low in 2022 – UN reportThe number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022, according to the latest estimates released today by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
- New manual released to support diagnosis of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders added in ICD-11World Health Organization (WHO) has today published a new, comprehensive diagnostic manual for mental, behavioural, and neurodevelopmental disorders: “The clinical descriptions and diagnostic requirements for ICD-11 mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders (ICD-11 CDDR)”. The manual has been developed using the latest available scientific evidence and best clinical practices and is designed to support qualified mental health and other health professionals to identify and diagnose mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders in clinical settings. “An accurate diagnosis is often the first critical step towards receiving appropriate care and treatment. By supporting clinicians to identify and diagnose mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders, this new ICD-11 diagnostic manual will ensure more people are able to access the quality care and treatment they need” said Dévora Kestel, Director, Mental Health and Substance Use Department, World Health Organization. The new diagnostic guidance, reflecting the updates to the ICD-11, includes the following features: Guidance on diagnosis for several new categories added in ICD-11, including complex post-traumatic stress disorder, gaming disorder and prolonged grief disorder. This enables improved support to health professionals to better recognize distinct clinical features of these disorders, which may previously have been undiagnosed and untreated. The adoption of a lifespan approach to mental, behavioural and neurological disorders, including attention to how disorders appear in childhood, adolescence, and older adults. The provision of culture-related guidance for each disorder, including how disorder presentations may differ systematically by cultural background. The incorporation of dimensional approaches, for example in personality disorders, recognizing that many symptoms and disorders exist on a continuum with typical functioning. The ICD-11 CDDR are aimed at mental health professionals and qualified non-specialist health professionals such as primary care physicians responsible for assigning these diagnoses in clinical settings as well as other health professionals in clinical and non-clinical roles, such as nurses, occupational therapists and social workers, who need to understand the nature and symptoms of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders even if they do not personally assign diagnoses. The ICD-11 CDDR were developed and field-tested through a rigorous, multi-disciplinary and participatory approach involving hundreds of experts and thousands of clinicians from around the world. Notes: The CDDR are a clinical version of ICD-11 and thus complementary to the statistical reporting of health information, referred to as the linearization for mortality and morbidity statistics (MMS). The World Health Organization (WHO) Eleventh Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) is a global standard for recording and reporting diseases and health related conditions. It provides standardized nomenclature and common health language for health practitioners across the world. ICD-11 was adopted at the World Health Assembly in May 2019 and came into effect formally in January 2022.
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