Women's health and equity: Learning from the ALSWH

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists hosted a special event as part of the build-up to International Women’s Day 2023. The panel explored ways in which we can empower women by improving health and wellbeing, bridging gender gaps and removing social inequities.

ALSWH University of Queensland Deputy Director, A/Prof Leigh Tooth, discussed the key social, demographic and economic measures ALSWH uses to help contextualise and understand equity in health and health service use outcomes. Her presentation highlights some of the study’s recent findings on health inequities in the areas of caregiving, contraception, and perinatal mental health screenings. Leigh also addresses the ways that ALSWH continues to improve equity in women’s health through representation.

Panellists included:

The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health is run by the University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle. We are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Health & Aged Care for funding, and to the women who provided the survey data.