• public health

The foundational documents of global health, including the WHO Constitution and the Declaration of Alma-Ata,1 2 affirm and reaffirm the importance of equality, equity and the human rights principles of participation, non-discrimination and accountability—as important ends in themselves, but also as essential to achieve improvements in health outcomes. In recent years though, the system of organisations and structures that comprise ‘global health’ has been increasingly indicted on the extent to which it reflects these values in its own operations—in particular, who is represented in decision-making and allocation of resources, and who is excluded.

Gender inequalities in global health institutions have been challenged by organisations such as Women in Global Health3 and Global Health 50/50 (GH5050),4 while the #MeToo social movement has shown that global health is not a safe space from sexual harassment.5 6 Allied to growing calls to ‘decolonise’ global health (problematising the typical modus operandi of institutions and individuals in and from high-income countries acting on issues and individuals in low-income and middle-income countries),7 there is a growing intersectional interrogation of the political economy of global health.8

In this context, we welcome the publication of the third annual GH5050 report and accompanying Gender and Health Index,9 timed to coincide with International Women’s Day. Taking gender analysis as an entry point, the report examines the policies and composition of 200 organisations working in global health and argues that global health is not fit-for-purpose to deliver on its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) mandate to ensure health and well-being for all people. Here, we …