“Be active and eat a healthy diet” are some suggestions from the Government of Canada’s healthy living guide that encourage us to make good decisions about our health.
Although these are good goals to have, they can be difficult to achieve, particularly for those who experience obstacles due to systemic barriers that make it difficult to live healthier lives. It’s not enough to be provided with health tips, we should also have opportunities for health and wellness readily accessible. For example, to eat healthy, we need access to healthy food, enough money to buy it, and ample time to prepare it. To be active, we need resources like money, time, energy, and a safe environment to exercise.
Differing circumstances in each of our lives means that our health isn’t entirely up to us. In fact, approximately 75% of our health is determined by other factors. The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are a group of social, economic, and environmental factors that impact our place in the world, and our health status.
The Health Impacts of Being a Woman
Gender is a SDOH and a major influencer of overall health. Women, who make up over half of our population in Canada, are at greater risk of infection and disease, violence and abuse, and stigma and discrimination, which negatively impact physical and mental health and well-being. We have International Women’s Day in March and Women’s History Month in October to celebrate the achievements of women, but also to raise awareness of the gaps and inequities that exist. Only 7% of our federal healthcare dollars go to women’s health, and women’s health research is greatly underfunded.
Health is a human right — women and all genders should have the opportunity to reach their highest health potential. In order for women to have control over their health, there are many inter-sectional and inter-connected factors that come into play. All genders deserve the fundamentals, like safe and affordable housing, access to healthy food and health services, and steady and reliable income.
To move toward gender equity in health, we must remove obstacles that hinder women from achieving good health. When we promote gender equality and women’s rights, we are, by consequence, helping to improve health outcomes for women.
Give to Gain Gender Equality
This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is Give to Gain — the notion that supporting advancement for women and girls is a net gain for us all. There are many ways to give, whether it be giving knowledge, funding, respect, donations, access, and opportunities, there are so many ways to give in support of gender equality.
Our Foundation supports various initiatives that give to gender equality. We are currently funding the seed2STEM summer research program for Indigenous Youth. In both 2024 and 2025, we sponsored 4 Indigenous young women who interned at the BCCDC, learning valuable skills to use in a career field that employs disproportionately fewer women and Indigenous people.
We are supporting the work of innovative and accomplished women like Drs Natalie Prystajecky and Alexis Crabtree, who, along with their teams, are testing wastewater for trends in unregulated drugs, like fentanyl, to see if it can be used to enhance our response to the toxic drug poisoning crisis.
We fund programs created by leaders in public health like Dr Sofia Bartlett, who founded the Test, Link, Call, program to advance Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infection (STBBI) treatment for equity-deserving populations, and Dr Sarah Henderson, who is hoping to prevent further heat-related deaths by studying the indoor temperatures in homes of susceptible populations, like those living in poverty, older adults, and those who are precariously housed.
We proudly support the vaccine effectiveness work of Dr Danuta Skowronski, recognized for her notable contributions to the public health responses around several major health events such as SARS, avian influenza, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, COVID-19 and enterovirus D68, and for providing regular expert guidance around seasonal influenza.
We also employ some of the most talented and dedicated women, on our team and as Board members, who show passion and dedication each day, and help make public health more accessible and equitable for everyone in our province.
How can we all help Give to Gain? Here are some ideas:
- Call out stereotypes, challenge discrimination, question bias & celebrate women’s successes.
- Celebrate women’s achievements.
- Raise awareness about discrimination.
- Take action to forge gender parity.
- Attend the #GivetoGain Through Mentorship – IWD 2026 event webinar
- Attend the International Women’s Day March in your area
We urge you to act, in your own unique and special way, to improve the lives of women and girls, and all genders, not just on International Women’s Day, but year-round. Through our actions, we can create a healthier, safer, more equitable world for all.