Gender equality is good not just for the economy, but also society's overall health
Paul Yip and Stephen Tsang say Hong Kong should learn from findings linking health with gender equality
One of the most exhaustive studies on the relationship between women and health was published in The Lancet recently. Analysing data from 32 countries, accounting for 52 per cent of the world's population, it also highlights women's contribution to the health care industry as both consumers and providers. It calculated their financial contribution to global health care to be around US$3 trillion, of which nearly half is unpaid and unrecognised.
The publication of this report is timely. Three years in the making, the study examines the complex links between the biological, economic and social factors that can improve the health of both women and society. The Lancet brought together leading thinkers and activists from around the world for the study, in a group headed by Dr Ana Langer of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. The timing is perfect: the international community is now finalising its post-2015 development agenda dubbed the Sustainable Development Goals.
The report focuses on issues pertaining to low-to-middle-income economies, such as universal access to health care, maternal mortality and the availability of contraception. At first glance, this seems a world away from Hong Kong. On closer reading, however, the report is highly relevant for a city that mixes traditional Confucian values and modern Western culture with ease.