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. 2007 Sep;53(9):1415–1417.

Table 1.

Wonca’s 10 Steps to Gender Equity in Health2

As a worldwide organization of individuals, academic institutions, and organizations of general practitioners and family physicians, Wonca has a unique capacity to promote awareness of the vital effects of gender on health. The Wonca Working Party on Women and Family Medicine (WWPWFM) urges Wonca to adopt the following 10 Steps to Gender Equity in Health and proposes that Wonca World and Wonca Regional Councils urge their members to:

  1. Strive for gender equity in access to health services;

  2. Work in all Wonca initiatives toward the elimination of gender-based violence;

  3. Uphold the right of women to reproductive choice and safe motherhood;

  4. Assert the right of women to safe sex and sexual choice;

  5. Advocate for women’s active participation in decision making and equitable distribution of resources (health services, income, education, housing, etc);

  6. Integrate gender perspectives into medical curricula and education, residency training, professional development, and patient care throughout the life cycle;

  7. Promote the integration and understanding of healthy human sexuality in medical curricula and education, residency training, professional development, and patient care throughout the life cycle;

  8. Promote and support research on the impact of gender on health;

  9. Encourage those individuals and groups in Wonca with special interests in issues, such as tobacco cessation and alcohol and drug misuse, to incorporate a gender perspective; and

  10. Recognize that women’s empowerment is a key factor in HIV/AIDS and take concrete action toward addressing this worldwide catastrophe.