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
Transform Health recognises the importance of being more intentional about the role, and needed action, around gender and digital health. In 2024 we launched a policy brief, ‘Establishing Gender Equitable Foundations for Digital Health Transformation – to Advance Universal Health Coverage’.
Making the case for investment and action
To strengthen the foundations and guardrails for a gender equitable digital health transformation to advance progress towards UHC. Transform Health developed a Policy brief (left), which is setting out a call to action and recommendations for building a gender-equitable digital health ecosystem.
Celebrating women leaders in digital health
Transform Health developed a database (link the database below once we develop it) of women leaders in digital health to profile and position women’s leadership and promote gender balanced representation in convenings and processes.
Partnering to elevate issues and drive change
Transform Health is a Member of African Women in Digital Health (AWiDH) and has been supporting work of the network. Through our various collaborations we have participated in gender focused events such as AHTS 2024 Gender session on ‘Advancing Digital Health Equity in Africa: The Role of Gender and Innovation organised by Speak Up Africa and GIZ Africa Union.
During IWD 2025, Transform Health launched a postcast series (right), exploring issues at the intersection of gender and digital health – organised in partnership with African Women in Digital Health (AWiDH), Speak Up Africa, Young Experts: Tech for Health, Transform Health Kenya (KELIN), Girl Effect, Population Council, health.enabled, YO.DH and CDHi (Center for Digital Health and Implementation Science).
