One of the obvious advantages of the Israeli health care system is that health insurance is given to all its citizens. Even though the idea is meant to be equal healthcare for all, health and wellbeing is still, in part, a derivative of ones social and economic status. Navigating the health system effectively requires much knowledge, not only of the system, but also of our body. The chapter examines the holistic aspect of women’s health, bringing together two main components – the biological differences between the sexes and the social, economic, operational and cultural differences which cause women, more so than men, to use the health systems more often.
The chapter includes, apart from data about the health conditions of women in Israel (which is a testimony to the present situation), problem areas which require a greater allocation of resources and treatments etc. It also includes a breakdown of the healthcare package by gender, what kind of treatment is available within the package [at the time of writing], our rights as patients, alternative sources of information, as well as the barriers to receiving quality care which stem from various types of discrimination.
