Challenges in Accessing Healthcare by Women During Covid-19

Abstract

COVID-19 disruptions disproportionately impacted health of women, leading to more decline in access to healthcare services among women than men. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on health and other aspects of women’s lives has been attributed to pre-existing vulnerabilities and gender gaps which intensified the adverse effects on women. To ensure healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages there is need for addressing the barriers that hampered access to healthcare services by women and their households during the pandemic, for realization of health equity in post pandemic era. As cooperatives undertake measur es to enhance resilience of communities, there is need for special focus on women’s access to healthcare. Kenya has a vibrant cooperative movement of over 25,000 cooperatives mobilizing over 30% of national savings. This provides an avenue through which the power of collectives can be harnessed for realization of health equity. We investigated challenges faced by women and their households in accessing healthcare services during COVID-19 and ways in which agricultural cooperatives can assist members access better healthcare in post-COVID-19 era. The study, which involved 509 women from households with membership to agricultural cooperatives in three counties of Kenya revealed increased healthcare costs to be a key challenge experienced in accessing healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic; and support to access health insurance cover to be a priority for the highest proportion of participants. We recommend that in the aftermath of COVID-19 agricultural cooperatives should prioritize design and implementation of schemes that enable women’s households to enroll and pay for health insurance, as their contribution towards health equity in Kenya.