Page 196 - GHES-3-2

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Exploring the association between gender

inequality and healthcare: A visualization study

Wullianallur Raghupathi * , Sarah Jinhui Wu 1† , and Viju Raghupathi 2
1†
1 Department of Information, Technology, and Operations, Gabelli School of Business, Fordham
University, New York, New York, United States of America
2 Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Koppelman School of Business,
Brooklyn College, New York, New York, United States of America

Abstract
This study investigates the multiplex association between gender inequality and
healthcare. The aim of the study is to comprehend how inequalities in gender affect
healthcare across different populations worldwide. Visualization was conducted
to study the effect of various gender inequality variables on different healthcare
indicators. The study emphasizes the critical need for eliminating gender inequalities
to reduce disparities in healthcare. By analyzing publicly available data from the
† These authors contributed equally World Bank, we find that higher access to anti-retroviral drugs is associated with
to this work. a lower incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among both genders
Academic editor: and higher life expectancy. Importantly, increased female engagement in politics
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE and government is linked to higher life expectancy. In addition, higher female
*Corresponding author: representation is associated with lower fertility rates (particularly in high-income
Wullianallur Raghupathi countries) and a declining incidence of HIV over time. Higher parity among
(raghupathi@fordham.edu) the genders in school enrollment increases overall life expectancy, with female
Citation: Raghupathi, W., Wu, expectancy exceeding that of males. Simultaneously, higher parity is associated with
S.J., & Raghupathi, V. (2025). reduced fertility rates. A lower enrollment among females is also correlated to higher
Exploring the association between
gender inequality and healthcare: fertility rates. Finally, higher parity also reduces the mortality rate for several diseases.
A visualization study. Global Health Economic growth, education, income, political and government representation,
Econ Sustain, 3(2):188-202. population, and unemployment influence gender inequities, leading to disparities
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.5776
in healthcare delivery.
Received: November 5, 2024
Revised: January 31, 2025 Keywords: Fertility rate; Gender inequality; Incidence of human immunodeficiency virus;
Accepted: February 18, 2025 Health; Life expectancy; School enrollment; Self-employment; Unemployment
Published online: March 20, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021), gender has implications for
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, healthcare across all aspects of a person’s life. Previous studies have demonstrated the
provided the original work is relationship between gender inequality and health, particularly in the recognition and
properly cited. mitigation of adverse health conditions, consequentially leading to efforts to mitigate
Publisher’s Note: AccScience these disparities (Anderson et al., 2021; De Laat et al., 2024; Kent et al., 2012; King
Publishing remains neutral with et al., 2020; Musani, 2024). Women have the right to the best quality of overall health. This
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional right is requisite to their individual lives and general contentment, and to being actively
affiliations. involved in all aspects of their lives (Heise et al., 2019; Milner et al., 2021; Van Wijk

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 188 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.5776