by the State to ensure equal access to health-care services.156 The core obligations concerning the right to health are non-derogable.157 Examples of impacts on women: • Women make up the majority of the health workforce, as physicians, nurses, auxiliary staff, community health workers, home health carers and midwives. When health personnel are mobilized to address a health crisis, or during other emergencies, women are key frontline responders. Women also tend, however, to occupy lower positions in employment hierarchies in the healthcare sector. When emergency responses fail to take this fact into consideration and do not include women from the sector in response teams, women do not effectively participate in decision-making, and their priorities are overlooked.158 During the COVID-19 outbreak, a number of issues concerning the rights of women health workers have received increased attention, including those linked to low pay,159 burnout160 and problems accessing protective equipment, especially in light of shortages of PPE and the fact that it is usually designed for men and, thus, is often ill-fitting for women.161 Preliminary data suggest that the COVID-19 infection rate among healthcare workers has been higher for women than for men.162 The mobilization of women healthcare workers without adequately protecting their right to health (including the right to safe working conditions) also puts their right to decent and safe work at risk (if they fall ill and are quarantined) and, potentially, impinges upon their right to life. • Under emergency measures that limit access to “non-essential” medical services, the care burden for ill family members generally falls on women. Even outside of times of emergency, women who are not formally employed in the health sector disproportionately 156 CEDAW, op. cit., note 20, Art. 12(2); ICESCR, op. cit., note 16, Art. 10; and CESCR, “General Comment No. 14: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health [Art. 12]”, 11 August 2000, para. 44(a), <https://www.refworld. org/pdfid/4538838d0.pdf>. 157 ICESCR, op. cit., note 16, Art. 12; CESCR, Ibid. 158 During the SARS epidemic and the Ebola outbreak, women in healthcare facilities were either not provided with the same protective equipment as men physicians, or did not have the same influence over safety protocols as the men in leadership. See: World Bank, “Gender Dimensions of the COVID-19 Pandemic [policy note]”, 16 April 2020, <https:// openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/33622/Gender-Dimensions-of-the-COVID-19Pandemic.pdf>. 159 The Danish Nurses Organization has raised the fact that nurses (96 per cent of whom are women) are paid less on average than construction engineers (85 per cent of whom are men), despite similar levels of educational, in light of the role that nurses have played during the coronavirus pandemic. See: European Network of Legal Experts in Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination, Flash Report – Denmark, “Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality, 20 July 2020”, “https:// www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5188-denmark-impact-of-covid-19-on-gender-equality-133-kb”. 160 A study carried out by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service Confederation’s Health and Care Women Leaders Network found that, on average, women in healthcare had taken on an additional 11 hours of work per week since the pandemic began, and high numbers reported experiencing mental health problems and physical exhaustion. See: Banerjee, R., “Female NHS Staff at Risk of Burnout Due to Covid-19 Crisis, Survey Finds”, The New Statesman website, 25 August 2020, <https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/coronavirus/2020/08/ female-nhs-staff-risk-burnout-due-covid-19-crisis-survey-finds>. 161 UN Women, “Op-Ed: Personal Protective Equipment Standards Must Respond to Women’s Needs To Ensure the Safety of All Front Line Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic”, 3 June 2020, <https://www.unwomen.org/en/ news/stories/2020/6/op-ed-eca-alia-el-yassir-ppe-standards-must-respond-to-womens-needs>. 162 Ibid. 47