5 Things Smriti Irani Discussed On Women's Healthcare At WEF

A recent report by the McKinsey Health Institute and World Economic Forum reveals the vast disparity in the health of males and females across the world, showing that women spend 25% more time than men in poor health. This gender gap in health shows the significant ignorance reserved towards women's wellness for generations. The report showed that rightly approaching women's healthcare could give a $1 trillion annual boost to the global economy by 2040. While addressing this, India's Child and Women Development Minister, Smriti Irani, spoke about normalising open conversations around women's health and also discussed the initiatives taken by India.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024 in Davos, Irani highlighted the stigma surrounding healthcare for women and discussed how making it a topic of mainstream conversation would help find an easy solution for closing the gender health gap. She also discussed the initiatives the Modi government has taken since the Prime Minister came into power in 2014.

Smriti Irani Speaks At World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum discussed the gender health gap and revealed that investing in women's healthcare – which is more than just sexual or reproductive health – is not only a matter of health equity but a chance to help women have expanded workforce participation. Discussing this, Smriti Irani spoke about the need to normalise conversations around women's health at societal and administrative levels.

Union Minister Irani opened up about the ignorant beliefs surrounding women's health in society. She said, "Mostly, there is a presumption that women do not want the psychological burden of their medical challenge to fall upon their family unit or hinder the economic progression of their contribution. And that is why they tend to either self-medicate or not medicate at all."

She then listed the challenges in India that the incumbent government was successfully tackling. Irani cited a World Bank report from 2010-11 which stated that if there is a lack of sanitation facilities for women in India, it is leading to a negative 6% burden on the GDP of India.

Irani said that this was the first issue addressed by PM Modi in October 2014, under his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, adding that 110 million new toilets have been built. "It was an added impetus given to a woman's menstrual health," Irani said.

Irani further said, "Under Prime Minister Modi, for the first time in the history of our country, we had an administrative protocol setup for menstrual hygiene management by governments at the centre, state, including administration at the district or the grassroots village, which means that the narrative about the women's health was mainstreamed politically and administratively."

Further Initiatives By India

Further, Irani mentioned a WHO report that stated that 400,000 lives have been saved since the Modi government provided households with access to clean cooking fuel. She also said that 130 million individual portable water connections were given to poor families where "women spent half a day either collecting firewood or collecting water for their domestic consumption," Irani said.

Irani also stated that the health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat serves 440 million Indians across 27,000 hospitals for over 1,900 diseases. She also added that the PM has elevated the preventative healthcare landscape, with over 1.27 lakh diagnostic and wellness centres.

Women Employees In Healthcare 

Smriti Irani also spoke about the women employees in the healthcare industry. She said, "When you look at opportunities in women's health, it does not only subscribe itself to access to healthcare institutions. It's also an economic opportunity for women to come up and become part of the healthcare workforce."

Irani pointed out that during the COVID pandemic, close to 6 million women were part of the frontline in healthcare. She added, "In the healthcare and wellness centres that are operational in India, 66% of healthcare workers are women. But, there are segments of healthcare vis-a-vis gender which need direct focus on."