Gender equity in health programs

Building on our experience strengthening primary health care systems, PATH identifies gender-based barriers to health and designs programs that help ensure all individuals can access health innovations and services. In Kenya, with support from the US Agency for International Development, PATH provides a comprehensive package of evidence-informed behavioral, biomedical, and structural interventions for primary HIV prevention for youth.

Gender-responsive advocacy and policy are critical for catalyzing equitable health systems. Working with Uganda’s Ministry of Health, PATH sought to understand the dynamics that contributed to disparities and elevated solutions to reduce the impact of gender barriers to COVID-19 vaccination. This qualitative evidence informed the creation of a more gender-intentional vaccine deployment approach.

We develop and promote health innovations that address the needs of women, men, and individuals of all gender identities and expressions. For example, with funding from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PATH and partners supported trans-competent HIV and health services in Vietnam. This included confidential community-based HIV testing, hormone counseling, mental health counseling, and pre-exposure prophylaxis services, run and delivered by transgender women and their allies at specialized, gender-affirming clinics. 

Everyone has the right to the knowledge, resources, and innovations that will help them optimize their own health. The PATH-led Chak a Chaka project provides young women who have graduated from the US Agency for International Development–funded DREAMS program in Kenya with follow-on opportunities to gain entrepreneurial skills and build financial resources to protect their health and well-being, and that of their families.

For nearly 20 years, PATH has brought government partners and communities together to achieve evidence-based prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV). The GBV project implemented by PATH in Myanmar assessed the needs of women migrant workers through consultations with peer educators, and developed messages and trainings to increase awareness of GBV and sexual and reproductive health and rights in the migrant community.