Gender Inequality within Healthcare in Nigeria

● The gendering of professional roles in medicine (experiences of women physicians; how nursing became feminized; men’s experiences in feminized jobs; experiences of nonbinary people in the medical professions, etc.)

● How the scientific construction of sex impacts care provision and illness experiences ● Cross cultural comparisons of gender norms and their impact on health ● How gender intersects with other systems of inequality (race, class, ethnicity, nationality,

etc.) in health and medicine

Gender Inequality within Healthcare in Nigeria Known as the “Giant of Africa,” Nigeria has been one of the most influential and

progressive countries in Africa. Dating back to the late 19th century when Nigeria was colonized by the British, the country has since become more westernized within education, politics, medicine etc. Although western powers have had immense influence over the country, Nigeria does not hold the nickname “Giant of Africa,” for any reason. Nigeria is still home to over 200 million people with 250 ethnic groups and over 500 native languages being spoken. It is fair to say that although Nigeria has been westernized in many ways since colonialism, there are still native ways that will forever be embedded into the country. When thinking of what is native to a country, we think of societal rules, religion, culture, etc. Socioeconomic status has widley been known as a social determinant of health. Oftentimes, socioeconomic status is measured by health experts looking at the income, education, and job occupation for an iduviduivual or a social group. When looking at Nigeria, Gender inequality has been a gaslighted issue for many years and has had a cascading effect on the other major problems, specifically healthcare. We see more women’s health at stake, such as high maternal mortality and breat cancer, becuase of the standardized sociecoeconomic status for many Nigerians and its relations to societal norms (Eleanor Nwadinobi 2020). With the growing expansions of medicine and technology throughout the world, Nigeria’s own healthcare system has plenty to catch up to.

Socioeconomic Status (Education) Effect on Women’s Health Ex. 2014 Chibok schoogirls kidnapping by Boko Haram

Women’s education has been a topic of controversy in Nigeria for years. Boko Haram, which translates to “western education is forbidden,” is an Islamic jihadist terrorist group that is centered in Nigeria’s northeast religion, which majority of its people (especially in the north) practice Islam. The group has been terrorizing Nigeria and neighbouring African countries since 2002 especially within places of learning, and in 2014 led a massive kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls. Under the group's own interpretation of the Sharia law, women should be kept at home raising children and tending to their husband. With this, the group opposes the installation of western education, especially the education of women. When looking at the social determinants of health, socioeconmic status is considered one the primitive detriminats of health. the northeastern re In rural areas of northern Nigeira where majority of the population practices

Islam, efforts to promote education amongst all genders has been difficult. With almost 50% ofthe population pracicing Islam, As of 2018, 49.3% of the population being Chrisitian, 48.8% being Muslim, and the remain percent practing indigenous African religions or none at all. Nigeria’s religious demographics are broken up with

Expl. Connecttion between gender and its role on education, and its latter effect on women’s health Expl. More women doctors means better result in women’s health (https://khn.org/news/women-doctors-may-be-better-for-patients-health/#:~:text=That's%20beca use%20female%20doctors%20may,Monday%20in%20JAMA%20Internal%20Medicine.) (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2034165/)

Socioeconomic Status (Income) Effect on Women’s Health Ex.Povrty and its effect on womens health (Bolatito A Lanre-Abass, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2390565/)

Cultural Impact on Women’s Health Ex. Genital Mutiliation and HIV rates in the country such as, poverty, poor healthcare, effect to the recorded to be one of the most populous countries in the world, housing up to 200 million people. Although the country is both large in mass and population, 40 percent of the population is still living in poverty with the average person making what is equivalent to $890.93 US dollars. When looking at Nigeria we see this,other determinants come into play.With a country that has so many people, healthcare and medicine should be prioritized. chaving as many people, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1121438/poverty-headcount-rate-in-nigeria-by-state/#:~:text=I n%20total%2C%2040.1%20percent%20of%20population%20in%20Nigeria%20lived%20in%20 poverty.

● The gendering of professional roles in medicine (experiences of women physicians; how nursing became feminized; men’s experiences in feminized jobs; experiences of nonbinary people in the medical professions, etc.)

● How the scientific construction of sex impacts care provision and illness experiences ● Cross cultural comparisons of gender norms and their impact on health ● How gender intersects with other systems of inequality (race, class, ethnicity, nationality,

etc.) in health and medicine