b'Soroptimist InternationalReport for the High-Level Political Forum RecommendationsTo ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing at allages, Governments should take the following actions, based on the evidence provided by the projects below:Access to high-quality healthcare must be universally available. Income, nationality, gender, ethnicity and other factors should not be a barrier to accessing healthcare, as all have an equal right to health. Health programmes should be examined and expanded to ensure that they are not discriminatory on any grounds. All decisions on health provision during the COVID-19 pandemic must be based on evidence. Hospital managementmustbeabletojustifytheirdecisiononlimitinghealthcare,includingbyusingrisk assessments.Therearemanyreportsofhospitalscreatinghealthcareaccesspoliciesbasedon perceptions that there is no evidence for, placing patients, and particularly women and girls, at increased health risk. All women must have access to high-quality maternal health services, including women in rural areas. During the pandemic, this includes allowing the woman to select an advocate to attend appointments and birth. This is proven to create better health outcomes for parents and infants, decreases maternal mortality risks, and best fulfils human rights obligations relevant to health. There must be improved resourcing to support healthcare workers and providers through the pandemic, toensurethathealthcareproviderscanpromotehealthoutcomepost-pandemicandcanbuild resilience.Manyhealthcareprovidersandhospitalswerestretchedbeyondcapacitybeforethe pandemichit. Toensurehealthcareresiliencecapacitybuffersshould beintroducedtohealthcare systems which will support those systems being better able to cope with capacity surges. xThis will require full resourcing and support by governments, the private sector, CSOs and other stakeholders. Innovationsmustbefoundtoexpandandimproveuponsexualandreproductivehealthcareand education. This includes adjusting programmes to ensure girls and women receive the information they need, and redeveloping programmes so they are accessible and respond to the realities and future needs of women and girls."During COVID-19 all aspects of health have been affected by reduced access to medical care and medicines, food insecurity, violence, social isolation, mental health issues and more. Women and girls are affected the most as caregivers and providers of their families and we must ensure that they do not fall further behind due to the pandemic.Bev Bucur, SI Director of Advocacy 16'