Health is a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well being and not merely the absence of disease; declares the World Health Organization (WHO). This implies that one of the most consequential determinants of Health is Gender, which happens to be socially shaped rather than biologically built.

Any form of social, economic and political injustice affects the human development. Health being one of the indicators of human development is indeed influenced. However, the worthiness "warranted" due to "maleness" and misestimate "merited" due to "femaleness" shifts the balance of disadvantages and disempowerment towards women. Hence women suffer from the denial of their basic human rights throughout the world in general.

What could be the health impacts on men and women composing a society that is blazed by inequalities, inequities, biases and discriminations? Certain facts and figures reflecting the health consequences would give an answer to the question but not a solution to the problem. It is worthwhile to look behind the numerical and well-researched evidence.

In a traditional patriarchal society, obsessed with the fallacy that a girl is born with "a mouth to feed" while a boy is born with "two hands to earn" the fate of the two babies having different genders is quite understandable. The male child assigns the role of a breadwinner and is raised in conformation with the same image whereas the female child becomes entitled to the "last, least and leftovers" as a rule.

The social environment in nutshell is more enabling for males than females and thus life offers more opportunities to the former group. A new phase of deprivations begins for the females when they get married (do they always exercise their right to decide? Who knows)? amidst the most frequently uttered "dua" of being blessed with SONS. The physiological process of Pregnancy because of being TOO CLOSE and the lack of proper maternity care for majority of the women in Pakistan takes a heavy toll; here every hour two (2) mothers die due to child birth.

Male participation in child raising is another entity yet to be discovered and deciphered in the local scenario. A "REAL MAN" by virtue of centuries old deeply embedded ideas is not supposed to change Nappies or help his wife in the kitchen.

I may be sounding too pessimistic (although there is a very critical line of demarcation between Pessimism and Realism). Of course there are brighter and better examples.

Over the years many positive changes have started emerging in the society owing to the efforts of Public & Private sectors and much stronger strike of the information technology. The level of awareness has towered. People may be uneducated but not necessarily unaware anymore. However, the predicament of common masses in general and those of women is still very unfavorable.

The causes may be looked into the irrationality of the prioritized national issues, lack of political will and stability. Therefore, it is not surprising to find certain deplorable development (read non-development) facts. Nearly 38% of our people live below the poverty line. This is one such revelation that could make realize the state of the art to those who bear the insight.

Reverting to the main focus of gender and health it is interestingly disappointing to note that almost negligible data exists about health issues of Pakistani men. What do they know and what should they know are untapped areas of research. Gender inequalities affect men's behavior and their relationship towards women. This is reflected in diminished sense of responsibility among men and increased cases of gender-based violence, which in turn has its own health consequences. It is inevitable to understand the significance of disease pattern in men and women. This understanding could only be achieved if the core issues of health are assessed and analyzed through a gender lens.

The need of the hour is to formulate and implement a gender sensitive health policy. Needless to emphasize that the Politicians, representatives of the government and CSOs and Media are the key actors in this connection.