PSN addresses medics at UCL gender and health event
16 March 2011
PSN's Sarah Fisher has delivered a presentation on the importance of family planning for advancing gender equality, at a Gender and Health Panel Discussion at UCL University, London.
Two young mothers learning to write in Lucknow, India. Education is associated with a range of sexual and reproductive health benefits for women.
Credit: UN Photo
Reaching the next generation of medical professionals
The event, which took place on 15 March, was organised by UCL’s Gender Equity Campaign and attended by over 30 medical students specialising in global health.
Sarah Fisher, PSN Research and Communications Officer, joined three other panel members: Martine Collumbien from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Tim Dyson, from London School of Economics and Alex van Tulleken, from UCL Centre for International Health and Development.
Gender: critical but overlooked?
The presentations by the panel members introduced the gendered dimensions of wide-ranging international health issues, including famine-related mortality rates, the use of rape as a weapon of war, attitudes and behaviours influencing sexual and reproductive health, and links between family planning, gender equality and other development goals.
Lively debate and discussion followed the presentations, with questions ranging from the reasons for the higher incidence of suicide amongst men, to ways of engaging both men and women to promote equitable partnerships and sexual and reproductive decision-making.
Family planning and gender equality
Sarah’s presentation focused on the question of whether having access to family planning is simply ‘nice to have’ or critical for advancing gender equality.
After highlighting the vast unmet need that exists for family planning worldwide, and the necessity of holistic, rights-based sexual and reproductive health programmes, the benefits of increasing access to family planning were explored for three key issues for gender equality: maternal mortality and morbidity, poverty and education.
The UCL Gender Equality Campaign
The event took place to celebrate the launch of the latest edition of Perspectives- the global health magazine of the medical students global health society Medsin UCL, as part of the UCL Gender Equality Campaign.
The latest edition of Perspectives, on the theme of Gender Equity is available on the UCL website.
Sarah’s presentation is available in the Resources section.