Page 204 - GHES-3-2

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Gender inequality and healthcare

Figure 10. The proportion of women in parliament and female life expectancy by income level

awareness, education, and the standard of living is critical.
In addition, our findings indicate that greater and
faster access to drugs and immunization can enhance life
expectancy and reduce HIV incidences, highlighting the
need for targeted policy interventions.
The lower HIV incidence in females than in males is
not correlated to a higher income or economic growth, as
it was observed that HIV incidence is higher in middle-
income than in low-income countries. In middle-income
countries, more income does not necessarily translate into
Figure 11. Association between women in parliament and fertility rates investment in education or prevention of HIV for women.
by region
Female mortality, however, is higher in low-income
questions, analytical type, variables, graph/chart type, and countries than in middle- or high-income countries. High-
conclusion. income countries are likely to have lower mortality from
CVD, cancer, diabetes, or CRD for both genders. Low-
4. Discussion income countries require more policy initiatives directed
at improving women’s health.
Overall, our study revealed mixed results. Regarding gender
equity and preventative healthcare, higher accessibility to Higher unemployment is associated with high mortality
anti-retroviral drugs is associated with a lower incidence rates for both genders, while more pronounced for females.
of HIV among both genders, and the association is more In framing national policies, governments should consider
pronounced in females than males. the association between employment rate and quality of
health care. When unemployment declines, fertility rates
Reduced accessibility to anti-retroviral drugs is also
associated with lower life expectancy. While life expectancy also decline. This suggests that, as the standard of living
increases and more women gain employment, they may
for females is lower than that of males, immunization
contributes to a higher overall life expectancy. Data analysis choose not to have children.
highlighted a socioeconomic challenge beyond gender. Higher unemployment is associated with higher HIV
Countries like Africa have a low life expectancy and poor incidence for males, but not so for females. Importantly,
access to anti-retroviral drugs, highlighting that those as more women are engaged in employment in politics
most in need are the ones lacking access to HIV drugs. and government, life expectancy increases; over time,
This can have a lasting impact on both genders. Therefore, HIV incidences in females decline. However, higher
addressing this socioeconomic challenge by improving representation is also associated with lower fertility rates,

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 196 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.5776