A current Global economic forum The report showed that only 7 percent of global medical research financing focus on health problems faced by women. Medical research still mainly focuses on the male body and often ignores the specific health problems with which women are confronted. This problem is even deeper in India, with the caste, the class and the cultural factors affect access and attention to the health of women even harder. This has an impact on those who receive access to proper health care and who does not do this. These gaps are not just about money, but also about power: Who is considered worthy enough to maintain adequate medical care: only men or not women?
The low percentage of financing, which aims at the health care of women, shows us that our health and research institutions fail more extensive. It is time that we understand the health care of women by questioning the deeper systematic prejudices and neglect to which women are confronted.
Global gaps, local realities
The WEF claims that only 7 percent of medical research aimed at health problems that are faced with women and align themselves with the results of many studies. For example a study from 2018 in Natural communication showed that, although women are half of the population, health research is less financed by women. The World Health Organization Also says that women are often not included in clinical studies. This creates important gaps when you know how women’s bodies work differently than men and how diseases affect them.
Source: IGC
In India there is not much centralized data on research financing and The Indian Council for Medical Research Mainly focuses on diseases that affect both genders. The attention of the specific health problems of women such as PCOS or endometriosis is very minimal. This neglect leads to fewer studies, a late diagnosis and a lack of proper healthcare.
The National Family Health Survey It also shows that women, especially in marginalized groups, are still exposed to big differences in reproductive and mental health. This shows that the problem is not only about money, but also about how health care is delivered. This shows that it is not just about financing, but also about how health care is delivered. Research and health policy must change deeper to fix them.
The male body as a medical norm
Feminist scholars have pointed out that medicine focuses on the male anatomy Only if you ignore the female body and treat women’s body as different or abnormally. In India we see cultural taboos about the reproductive health of women.
First we look at The report This shows us that PCOS, which affects around 20 percent of Indian women of reproductive age, is often diagnosed due to stigma and a lack of consciousness. Similarly, the menopause of the menopause is treated with neglect. These problems show how the health of women is often neglected due to social attitudes and medical prejudices
Kaste, class and the edges of health
The idea that we have of intersectionality helps us to understand how not all women are exposed to the inequality of health care in the same way. The way in which health care is obtained is influenced especially by costs, class and location. For example, Dalit and Adivasi women often have more challenges for health care than the rest due to the systematic discrimination that is available in medical environments. Many reports show that the caste leads to poor treatment and reduced access for Dalit women.
In addition, rural women are also only limited facilities and longer travel times compared to access to health care. Also, NFS-5 The data show clear gaps in anemia, the deaths of mothers and access to contraception between women in the upper caste and lower box women and women from urban and rural backgrounds. However, medical research often overlooks these problems and mainly focuses more on urban and bourgeois needs.
Winning of care in health policy
India’s health system, shaped by growing privatization and cost reduction, has made it more difficult for many women to maintain care they need. Low expenses for public health affect women the most because many women mainly depend on Government services.
Privatized care leads to high costs out of the pocket by forcing marginalized women to delay or skip the treatment they need. Health problems of women You also get less research financing because you are considered less profitable. This market -oriented approach we see reduces the female body only to an economic value instead of treating it as complete and integrative care.
The limits of WEF’s global solutions
The The global alliance of the World Economic Forum Because the health of women shared five key ideas to make health care more accessible to women. This includes increasing investments, collecting gender -specific health data and encouraging more women to take on leadership roles in health research. These ideas are important, but it may not be easy to put them into practice in India.
Source: Unicief India
India already has programs such as the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana for mothers and the Rashtriya Kishori Swasthya Karyakram For young girls. While these efforts show that the government recognizes women’s health needs, they often fall due to poor funds and poor implementation.
We have to deal with everyday realities such as boxes, social stigma and weak rural health systems that we see first in India. These global plans are more symbolic than effective for us. For India, the progress of grounded and locally informed solutions depends on the most endangered women.
Remember health through a feminist lens
Feminist health activists and scientists in India have demanded and integrative research based in the municipality, which challenges the biomedical models of top-down models that we have, and center the voices of marginalized women. We also have groups such as Sangath and Jagori who work on site to promote gender -sensitive approaches in mental and reproductive health.
Source: Brookings
Real changes will take place if we not only concentrate on the financing of the health care of women, but also take into account the social factors that exist in Indian society. In addition, we have to support women researchers, especially those who belong to marginalized communities.
In addition, we also have to break the menstrual and reproductive taboos, which still exist in Indian society through education, media and open discussions. A shift in public attitude is necessary to recognize real changes.
From gaps to justice
The fact that only 7 percent of the financing is included in research that focuses on the health of women shows how overlooked this area is. In India, the problem is even more complicated due to the caste, class and cultural obstacles that have an impact on who will be for care and who is not. It affects women who belong to marginalized communities to maintain adequate health care. Combating this financing gap means increasing more than just increasing money, but we have to rethink the systems that shape medical research and care, including patriarchy, box strain and profit -oriented guidelines that we have.
Juhi Sanduja is an editorial intern at Feminism in India (FII). It is passionate about intersectional feminism, with a great interest in documenting resistance, feminist stories and identity questions. Previously, she was as a research intern in Delhi in the Center for Political Research and Governance (CPRG), Delhi. She is currently studying English literature and French and is particularly interested in how feminist thinking can influence public order and drive advantage of social change.
