ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to consider the contribution made by one such international organization, the World Health Organization (WHO), to improving women's access to health care. It aims to develop a set of criteria designed to evaluate, from a feminist perspective, the WHO's contribution in securing improvements to the standard of women's health care. The WHO has become more aware of the effect of gender on healthcare policies. It has a Working Group on Gender (GWG) that was established in 1996 by the Women's Health and Development Programme. The purpose of the GWG is said to be twofold: one to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of a gender perspective to public health programmes. And second to promote, expand and guide the integration and/or application of gender perspectives in the work of WHO and in health research, policy and programmes.
