Weaving the Web: A Transformative Framework for Women's Health Measurement

Alphonsus Neba of the African Population and Health Research Center in Kenya will develop a health index as a comprehensive, integrated measure of women’s health. Using existing global and regional data sources that reflect the multidimensional determinants of women’s health, life stage-specific health indicators will be developed and integrated into a composite index. These determinants will include factors such as unpaid care work, gender-based violence, access to services, reproductive autonomy, and mental health. Data modeling and statistical methods including geospatial analysis will be incorporated so that the index can serve as a digital tool to reveal and visualize hidden inequities in women’s health at the subnational level. The tool will be piloted in Kenya, Brazil, and India, testing its ability to generate actionable evidence to guide health policy, resource allocation, and targeted interventions for more equitable women’s health outcomes.