Credit must be given to current progress being made, from organizations on the ground, to having an impact on state and local governments in terms of policy making, and to facilitate change and empower women in Sub Saharan Africa through Healthcare leading to more education and economic prosperity. That being said, there are many more recommendations and opportunities for even more change, especially considering the way COVID-19 has forever altered life. Specifically, the impact of COVID has worsened the vulnerabilities of women in Sub Saharan Africa.

 

Lockdowns are affecting the accessibility to health services, and women are taking the brunt of this, with an increase in domestic violence and lack of services for sexual and reproductive health (Parry, 2020). The WHO is working with many organizations to take future actions to ensure that regardless of the pandemic, women’s rights to healthcare should be respected and work alongside the demands of COVID-19. Such opportunities can include training more women in the field of healthcare as nurses to help with the pandemic control, and making sure adequate protective equipment is supplied for the many working women making up the labour force, which is more than 90% (World Health Organization, n.d).

 

Although the pandemic has had a profound impact on the state of gender equality, in Africa, organizations and governments have plans and goals for areas that can be improved.

 

According to the UN sustainable development goals for gender equality, there is more work to be done due to discrimination, unequal division of work, and sexual violence. In order to overcome healthcare challenges in Africa, it is crucial to invest in education and the economy for women to improve services (UNDP Africa, n.d).

 

To improve the responsiveness of health care systems, it is important to increase access to services by removing financial barriers to help make women more independent. This can be done through fee exemptions, or health insurance policies. As well, the World Health Organization has sponsored a study on the use of non clinician physicians (nurses or physician assistants), to address needs; this will help with easier access and ability of services to reach more areas (World Health Organization, n.d).

 

Areas of improvement should also include more widespread use of technology to enhance the quality of services being provided, and along with that, governments investing in health care systems to reach underserved areas and address human resources allocations in terms of care providers.

 

In order to deal with death and diseases, it is vital for policy makers to invest some of the budget allocated for HIV/AIDS to address specific gender rights issues to prevent the spread of diseases that can be transmitted through relationships (NACA, 2016). Governments are also taking steps to support programs and partner with women focused organizations that will address gender equality through a more holistic and multisectoral approach (Parry, 2020).