Closing the gender divide in digital health
As digital transformation accelerates, it presents both opportunities and risks for gender equity in health. Millions of women continue to face significant barriers when seeking essential healthcare, treatment, and support. These gender inequities intersect with income, education, race, and other social determinants of health, leaving the most marginalised women underserved. Digital health offers a huge opportunity to accelerate UHC progress, including to address gender inequalities in health access and outcomes and improve women’s and girls’ health and wellbeing.
What we're calling for
Mainstream gender in digital health, including through gender expertise; gender indicators; participatory approaches; and women’s leadership.
Invest in people, infrastructure and systems, including through addressing the health worker deficit; expanding reliable digital infrastructure and technical support for primary healthcare facilities and health workers; and improving the digital literacy of health workers, women, and girls.
Ensure robust legislation and regulation, including to eliminate violence against women and girls online; strengthen health data governance to protect people, promote health value, and prioritise equity; and regulate artificial intelligence to protect human rights and dignity.
What we're doing
Making the case for investment and action
In 2024, Transform Health launched a policy brief, ‘Establishing Gender Equitable Foundations for Digital Health Transformation – to Advance Universal Health Coverage’, setting out our recommendations to strengthen the foundations and guardrails for a gender equitable digital health transformation to advance progress towards UHC.
We continue to elevate these asks and call for action across our work, including through our advocacy with governments and other stakeholders, and our engagement in events and processes.
Celebrating women leaders in digital health
As part of our commitment to equity, representation and gender-responsive digital health leadership, Transform Health has developed a Women Leaders in Digital Health database. The database aims to:
- Increase visibility and recognition of women experts in digital health
- Support diverse and inclusive representation in panels, advisory roles, and leadership spaces
- Enable partners, policymakers, and organisations to identify and engage women leaders across regions and thematic areas
- Strengthen networks and collaboration among women in digital health
Partnering to elevate issues and drive change
Transform Health works with partners to advance gender equity in digital health by elevating critical issues, shaping policy dialogue, and driving inclusive systems change. We focus on ensuring that digital health transformation is equitable, rights-based, and responsive to the needs of women and marginalised communities.
As part of this effort, Transform Health is a member of African Women in Digital Health, supporting the network’s mission to strengthen women’s leadership and promote gender-responsive digital health ecosystems across Africa.
We co-host and contribute to strategic convenings, campaigns, and dialogues that bring visibility to gender gaps and mobilise action.
To further amplify these conversations, Transform Health launched a podcast series during International Women’s Day 2025 and convened a webinar on “Inclusive by Design: Gender Equity in Digital Health Investments for Adolescent Girls and Young Women” during International Women’s Day 2026.
