
Gender Equity events/webinars

Reducing Inequities in the Health and Pharmacy Workforce: The Importance of Maternity and Parental Leave Policies
30 May 2024Pregnant women and mothers often encounter bias by being viewed as inconveniences or liabilities by their employers.
Their ability to perform quality work is also presumed to be compromised due to their pregnancy or motherhood responsibilities. Insufficient support and workplace policies exacerbate these challenges, including the absence of flexible work arrangements and adequate accommodations like maternity leave.
These inequities impact women across various sectors; however, they are particularly evident within the health and pharmacy workforce since women represent over 70% of the workforce in the health and social sectors1. To address these issues and inequities, it is crucial to challenge and dismantle the gender biases and stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination against pregnant women and mothers. EquityRx and FIPWiSE (Women in Science and Education) are hosting a digital event to highlight and address some of these issues, particularly those related to maternity leave policies.

Gender Equity in the Health Workforce: Accelerating progress
8 March 2024Gender inequities persist in the pharmaceutical and health workforce, hindering the professional growth and opportunities for women.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also disproportionately affected women in the workforce, magnifying these inequities which may in turn lead to women leaving the health workforce.
In recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024, themed ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’, FIP will host an event to delve into the challenges faced by women in these sectors, shedding light on gender equity gaps and advocating for inclusive practices. The event will feature a report by Women in Global Health, emphasising the importance of addressing these disparities, exacerbated by the pandemic, for the advancement of gender equity.

The role of pharmacists in closing the gender pain gap
27 January 2023Research has shown that women may receive less intensive, less effective and lower quality treatment due to stereotyped responses attributed to women, such as dramatising, overemphasising their experiences of pain, being more willing to report pain, inaccurately reporting pain or being less tolerant to pain than men.
It results in the underestimation and undertreatment of women’s pain worldwide. This is often referred to as the “gender pain gap”.
Regarding the gender pain gap, self-awareness and training are not issues owned only by pharmacists; they should be shared with all healthcare professionals and the public.
Pharmacists can be supported to address the gender pain gap through education and partnerships. A good understanding of the variety of pain symptoms can support unbiased pain management. Pharmacists also have a responsibility to educate the public on where and how to seek help for pain management, thus further addressing the gender pain gap.
The event aims to
- Define the gender pain gap
- Increase awareness about gender pain gap
- Describe how pharmacists can be supported to address the issue
- Describe the knowledge and training for pharmacists to close the gender pain gap

Achieve equitable, inclusive and quality pharmaceutical education for all: Launch of the FIP toolkit for addressing inequities in pharmaceutical education
9 September 2022FIP research indicates that inequities in pharmaceutical education need to be addressed, and this FIP toolkit for addressing inequities in pharmaceutical education intends to motivate, assess, and inform forward-thinking changes targeted at transforming pharmaceutical education through addressing inequities globally, across all regions and locally.

Vaccinations and the genders: Examining inequities in gender access and handling of vaccinations globally to inform pharmacy policy
10 August 2021Episode 3 examines inequities in gender access to vaccines to inform pharmacy policy.
Various angles to vaccinations and the gender will be discussed including general gender access, terms of empowering women as caregivers to support vaccinations, the impact of COVID-19 on gender inequity, and the issues around gender inequity in the workforce (which is especially important to discuss in 2020 Year of the Health Worker).
Challenging the Narrative on Leadership in Gender Equity during the COVID-19 Pandemic
11 June 2021This panel discussion aimed to:
Provide relevant information and interim guidelines for pharmacists and the pharmacy workforce on Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic.
- Share and discuss strategies adopted by pharmacy leaders and workers – including our Member Organisations – in response to the pandemic.
- Engage frontline workers of the health and pharmacy workforce to know about the realities facing them around the world.
- Discuss the implications of the pandemic on issues such as safety, supply, shortages that have been exacerbated by COVID-19, across our nations and regions. lina@fip.org
- Consider the impact of this disease on patients across age groups and with concurrent conditions.
- Assess and discuss the evidence behind treatments and the process of developing therapies, vaccines and tests.