- A new report from The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health released today indicates that:
- A lack of understanding of the link between gender and health is negatively affecting health outcomes.
- Gender is weaponised, manipulated and politicised, with damaging implications for the health of communities around the world.
- The report authors state that understanding the different health considerations required depending on gender will improve health for everyone, but warn that health experts are in ‘the fight of our lives’ against the global anti-gender rhetoric and a rollback of gender rights.
Delhi / Sao Paulo / Dakar / London, 7 April 2025: A new report released today shows that the anti-gender movement is damaging the health of millions.
The report from the world-leading experts at The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health - ‘Achieving gender justice for global health equity’ - identifies now as a crucial moment in time to turn the tide on the rise of anti-gender rhetoric and increase understanding of the importance of gender in global health.
It states that gender has become a divisive term in global health and is contested by groups seeking to obstruct progress towards gender justice. This anti-gender opposition within global health is having a significant impact on health policies at the national and global level.
In a multi-year enquiry, the Commission - a group of experts across nine countries working at the intersection of gender and health - examined how gender has been weaponised and manipulated in ways that affect health outcomes.
The Commission has identified three priority recommendations for decision makers - to realise an untapped ‘gender dividend’ in global health that will unlock better health outcomes for everyone. It also provides concrete evidence of how gender-responsive interventions can lead to better health globally.
- Determine whether an international legal definition of gender is needed, to create a guardrail to understand and protect gender, building on the work of UN treaty bodies.
- Establish and resource a hosting platform for data to collate integrated monitoring data related to gender justice in global health.
- Establish new mechanisms to finance gender justice in global health through a ring-fenced gender justice allocation from existing tax on health-harming products.
Professor Sarah Hawkes, LCGGH Co-Chair, Head of Global Population Health at Monash University Malaysia and Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Global Health 50/50 said:
"We are in the fight of our lives. Never before has the politicisation of gender had a more devastating impact on the health of millions around the world.
“The Trump administration is not alone in its turn towards anti-gender and anti-social justice authoritarianism. The anti-gender rhetoric it propounds is supported by more than an elite few. In a recent survey, more than half of Gen Z men supported a belief that ‘we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men’.
Gender justice in health depends on our collective resolve for action to advance and defend feminist and democratic principles, to tackle disinformation and to demand that all governments protect universal human rights. The 99% who will pay the price of the anti-gender ideology must be persuaded to come together under more unifying agendas. It will be a long haul, as it has always been. But the costs of inaction on gender justice and health are increasingly devastating.”
The report launches during a current crisis for global health that is historical in its roots:
- The Trump administration and its global influence: In its first 100 days, Trump’s presidency has entrenched the weaponisation and manipulation of gender in the policies of one of the world’s most powerful countries, with devastating implications for the realisation of health and gender justice worldwide.
- Since Trump took office, he has issued a raft of executive orders to withdraw from the WHO, dismantle USAID, limit funding to NGOs and remove remove recognition of the concept of gender identity (KFF, Global Health Policy)
- Global roll-back of gender rights: Beyond the United States, the anti-gender movement is global in nature. There is a well-organised, well-funded, and highly influential ‘anti-gender’ movement for decades which seeks to spread disagreement and obstruct progress towards gender justice. From Peru to Russia, women’s and LGBTQ+ organisations and activists are increasingly being criminalised, arrested, physically or sexually attacked, and even killed for their work.
- Between 2013-2017, the anti-gender movement received $3.7 billion – more than triple the $1.2 billion received by LGBTI movements worldwide (Global Philanthropy Report, 2020).
- Across Europe, 54 NGOs, religious organisations, foundations, and political parties contributed over $700 million to anti-gender activism from 2009 to 2018 (European Parliamentary Forum, 2021)
- Lack of action from the global health community: The global health system has been aware of the gender and health relationship for decades, but is failing to act. Misunderstandings of gender lead to unequal health outcomes for everyone around the world and we urgently need to tackle the gap in research, ideas and action.
Elhadj As Sy, co-chair of the Commission, Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation and the former Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said:
“Achieving gender justice in global health will create positive benefits for all people, improving health outcomes and reducing health inequalities. Where gender justice has been a goal of policies, programmes and practices, health inequities are reduced, and levels of population health and wellbeing can improve.
“Health workers are critical actors in addressing the impact of anti-gender narratives on healthcare systems and communities. Civil society, health professionals and other sectors must work together to strengthen efforts to counteract anti-gender movements and ensure the delivery of equitable healthcare.
“The report’s recommendations is a toolbox to incorporate gender justice into health policies, programmes and practices, to improve health and wellbeing for all people, which can be adapted and applied across local contexts. We want the report to be seen as a roadmap to navigate and inform action, during and beyond the current crisis facing global health.”
CASE STUDIES - HOW GENDER INCLUSIVE POLICIES DRIVE BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES
ADDRESSING GENDER BIAS IN HIV PROGRAMMING
Health research has overwhelmingly blamed men’s poor health outcomes on individual behaviour and for nearly two decades men were a missing component in gender focused HIV policy, programming and research.
Health researchers in Malawi have now challenged prevailing stereotypes. Their research found that men frequently attend health facilities. In a study of 1,116 men eligible for HIV testing, 70% had attended a healthcare facility in the past year, but only 7% of these men were ever offered testing. In addition, 39% of men attending a facility did so as a caregiver, suggesting greater male involvement in caregiving than typically understood..
These findings highlight critical areas where existing gender stereotypes have contributed to men’s poor health outcomes. The research identified innovative recommendations, such as redesigning HIV testing strategies and targeting men as fathers and caregivers, that have now been incorporated into national guidelines and implemented in programmes.
TRACKING MATERNAL HEALTH IN GUJARAT
Fewer than half of estimated maternal deaths are recorded in India. To tackle this, civil society organisations in India led by CommonHealth began a process called ‘Dead Women Talking’ to systematically document maternal deaths.
In Gujarat, marginalised women were recruited to track neglected maternal deaths in remote communities beyond the reach of formal health services. Evaluation of the programme found that reporting of maternal deaths significantly increased in those districts. Additionally, in some districts the intervention was found to foster improved collaboration between the public health system and community leaders to tackle the causes of maternal deaths.
This shows the important role that local women’s collectives can play as partners with the health system, by filling data gaps related to priority issues such as maternal deaths and by working collaboratively to improve maternal health through community action to address causes of maternal mortality.
ENDS
Further information for media:
Link to the full report, "Achieving gender justice for global health equity: the Lancet Commission on gender and global health," is available (live from 01:01 BST on the 7 April): www.thelancet.com/commissions/gender-and-health
Media contact
Please direct media enquiries to Zoe Pike, zoe@bbpartners.co.uk and Amy Leach, amy@bbpartners.co.uk.
Spokespeople available for comment
- Sarah Hawkes, LCGGH Co-Chair. Head of Global Population Health at Monash University Malaysia and Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Global Health 50/50.
- Renu Khanna, LCGGH Commissioner and Founder, Society for Health Alternatives.
- Ravi Verma, LCGGH Commissioner and Executive Director, ICRW Asia
- Indrani Gupta, LCGGH Commissioner and Head of the Health Policy Research Unit, Institute of Economic Growth.
- Jocalyn Clark, LCGGH Commissioner and International Editor of The BMJ.
ABOUT THE LANCET COMMISSION ON GENDER AND GLOBAL HEALTH
The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health (LCGGH) is a multi-disciplinary group of experts across nine countries working at the intersection of gender and health. Commissioners bring a wide range of expertise and experience—from people working with community health groups to those working on the global governance of the corporate determinants of health, through to human rights scholars and practitioners.
Commissioners and authors include:
- Aaron Koay, UK
- Amy Hsieh, USA
- Angela Y Chang, Denmark
- Ben Cislaghi, Uganda
- Elhadj As Sy, Senegal
- Erica Nelson, UK
- Fran Baum, Australia
- Gary Barker, USA
- Gary Darmstadt, USA
- Indrani Gupta, India
- Jeni Klugman, USA
- Jocalyn Clark, UK
- Kent Buse, Malaysia
- Khadija T. Moalla, Tunisia
- Lynsey Robinson, UK
- Morna Cornell, South Africa
- Nina Schwalbe, USA
- Raewyn Connell, Australia
- Ravi Verma, India
- Renu Khanna, India
- Sarah Hawkes, Malaysia
- Sarah Hill, New Zealand
- Sharon Friel, Australia
- Simone Diniz, Brazil
- Sofia Gruskin, USA
- Virginia Zarulli, Italy
- Vivian Lin, Hong Kong
The Commission is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Ford Foundation, Global Health 50/50 and supported by University College London and United Nations University International Institute for Global Health.
Report methodology
To understand why gender presents challenges for the global health sector, The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health reviewed the historical, social, political, legal, and economic forces at work - including the impacts of colonialism, imperialism and capitalism - and their impact on peoples’ bodies and health.
The Commission examines the power dimensions of gender relations and the power of interest groups - including those with commercial interests and who seek to benefit from anti-gender narratives. Inputs into the Commission include a programme of public engagement underpinning the research, seeking dialogue across a range of views and voices to understand the complexity of gender, intersectionality, and health from grassroots communities around the world.
The final report was peer-reviewed and published in The Lancet journal.