Disparities in access to quality surgical care for women in resource-constrained settings: Bottlenecks and the way forward

Abstract

Women seeking surgical care are burdened with gender disparities, particularly in resource-limited settings. Such disparities can lead to women often presenting late with advanced disease and poor prognoses. The current narrative review was planned to find evidence for gender disparities, their implications, challenges faced by women seeking surgical care, and strategies to address them. Potentiating from interplay between various societal, sociocultural, and economic barriers, the main challenges included inadequate autonomy, financial constraints, transport and referral issues, lack of experienced women surgeons, privacy concerns, surgeon distrust, and higher thresholds for seeking care. While research revealed these underlying causes, much work remains for governmental healthcare bodies, the international community, surgical leadership, policymakers, surgeons, and family members of patients to act on the highlighted issues. 
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Clinical Trials and Therapeutic Approaches for Healthcare Challenges in Pakistan

“…Addressing Inequalities: Address regional disparities by focusing on expanding healthcare facilities and services in rural and remote areas, where access is limited. A study of women seeking surgical care found evidence for gender disparity [20], particularly in marginalized and hard-to-reach groups [21].…”

FIGO statement: Disparities in patients' access to benign gynecological surgery

“…The quantity and quality of information available pertaining to surgical procedures and preoperative counseling is less optimal when proposing to perform surgery on women. Gynecological surgery is significantly worse than other surgical specialties in terms of quality, access, information flow, and safety [2,5,8].…”

“…Quality of and access to health services depends largely on patients' biological sex, race, geographical location, and socioeconomic level [1][2][3]. Women around the world face several barriers to accessing essential health services.…”