CEDAW/C/1996/3/Add.1 English Page 6 Women's perspectives in health care 17. Because removing inequalities in health status and ensuring equitable access to care will depend critically on greater collaboration between healthcare systems and their clients, health-care providers and women themselves, WHO is seeking to stimulate a process whereby programmes for women's reproductive health are placed in the broader context of primary health-care services and reproductive choice is central to service provision. The work of the organization will increasingly emphasize the involvement of non-governmental organizations and women's groups to ensure that women's perspectives are at the centre of all reproductive health-care strategies. 18. To this end, the Special programme for research, development and research training in human reproduction and the Family Health Division have collaborated to establish and foster the integration of women's perspectives into research on human reproduction and into the provision of services for reproductive health. Several meetings bringing together women's health advocates, researchers and policy makers have already taken place. They have proved a useful tool for the exchange of views and identification of mechanisms for ensuring women's input and participation at national, regional and international levels. 19. The Special programme for research, development and research training in human reproduction is at present establishing a gender advisory panel, which aims to ensure that gender considerations are brought into all of the programme's work; give guidance on the ongoing work of integrating women's perspectives and experiences; examine how research can contribute to increased responsibility of men for women's reproductive health as well as their own; and assist the programme in keeping abreast of the developments outside the programme in the understanding of gender roles and perspectives in reproductive health. Gender-based indicators 20. WHO activities in women, health and development (WHD) aim to address the relationships between the health of women and their social, political, cultural and economic status (i.e. gender) and their contribution to health and overall development. Over the years WHD has successfully advocated integrating gender considerations into health systems. Among the important outcomes are the promotion, collection and dissemination of sex-specific health data; gender analysis of the impact of disease and health-related conditions; promotion of women's perspectives; participation and leadership in health and development; and promotion of women's role and status in health and health-related matters from the family to national decision-making levels. 21. To facilitate the process of incorporating women's perspectives in WHO's general programme of work, the Steering Committee on Women, Health and Development prepared a check-list of indicators for programme managers. It includes a series of questions, including consideration of the following: indicators of gender differentials in health and access to and use of health services; the impact of the programme's activities on the health of women in countries; the provision of services and the participation of women and/or women's organizations in health promotion and disease prevention and control; /...