On July 25, 2025, the HRUG regular seminar on “Women’s Health Care in the Digital Age” was successfully held. The seminar was lectured by Zhao Yue, a Privatdozent at the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne, Germany, and chaired by Joe Finnerty, a Policy Analyst at the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Ireland. Professor Peter Herrmann (a researcher of CSU Human Rights Center), Professor Mehmet Okyayuz of Political Science at the Middle East Technical University, Associate Professor Li Juan, Tunahan Ali Usta (a PhD candidate in Political Science at the Middle East Technical University, Turkey), and Edip Hakkı Erdem participated in the discussion. The seminar focused on gender inequality in the field of women’s health and digital solutions, calling for interdisciplinary cooperation, integrating legal and social science perspectives, and then advancing women’s healthcare in the digital age.
From the dual perspectives of clinical practice and research, Zhao Yue first verified the systemic threat posed by the “gender data gap” in medical research, medical education, and clinical practice to women’s health by presenting relevant medical research data. She presented that the challenges faced by women’s health go far beyond healthcare itself, but are intertwined across multiple dimensions such as economy, education, accessibility to medical resources, cultural norms, and even global climate change and population aging. In response to the challenges faced by women’s health, Zhao Yue proposed that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) might become a breakthrough. She discussed how to apply digital solutions to the promotion of women’s health, and introduced how an EU inter-institutional project she participated in truly implemented the advocacy for women’s health with the help of digital medical tools, providing a thinking path with both theoretical and practical value for the protection of women’s health rights and interests in the digital age.
During the discussion session, the participants conducted in-depth discussions. Tunahan Ali Usta asked whether significant progress had been made in women’s health and health awareness over the past decade. Zhao Yue believed that although some progress had been made in women’s health awareness and related research, there was still a long way to go to reach the ideal state. Taking investment data as an example, the current budget allocated to women’s health still accounts for a very small proportion. She pointed out that as more emphasis is placed on diversity and gender issues when formulating investment plans, more female patients and female data should also be included in the design of medical research.
Edip Hakkı Erdem continued to ask how to view the ongoing changes in the psychological dimension of women’s health care in the digital age. Zhao Yue responded that digital solutions are currently being vigorously promoted, such as applications, consultations and services for mental health. However, she also emphasized the importance of accurate data input. When designing mental health tools or services, gender and age factors must be fully considered, and attention should be paid to the demand for women-friendly design in digital mental health solutions to ensure accurate and personalized results.
Mehmet Okyayuz put forward two questions: how the research team integrates its findings on gender diversity into institutional political networks and how to convey the concepts to social actors; whether the diversification of gender issues might undermine the holistic understanding of things to a certain extent. Zhao Yue responded that the research team she belongs to had established a gender diversity working group, which strives to balance the gender ratio in research design. At the same time, focusing on women’s health issues, the team advances projects from the genetic level, aiming to gradually expand its influence and put it into practice through innovative concepts, seeking global partners, making interdisciplinary efforts and other means.
Joe Finnerty continued to explore the in-depth causes of inequalities in women’s health and medical treatment, pointing out that some analyses attribute these inequalities to the patriarchal system, and reflecting on the limitations of the micro-solutions provided by Zhao Yue within the patriarchal system. Zhao Yue also stressed that a more comprehensive approach is needed to solve the problem, and proposed the importance of in-depth exploration and cooperative efforts to address systemic challenges.
Based on the Iceberg Model, Peter Herrmann asked whether the increased interest and attention on women’s health issues in medical and academic research are driven by pressures from the economic system and society. Zhao Yue expressed her agreement–on the one hand, the improvement of medical care and the enhancement of educational levels have enabled women to achieve economic independence; on the other hand, women’s leadership in the industrial field has also made more health-related demands possible. The growing attention to women’s health is indeed closely related to economic and social power as well as legal issues. At the same time, Zhao Yue also believed that health is the foundation for building a balanced social structure.
Li Juan discussed the widening gender gap after the epidemic. While acknowledging the potential benefits of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), she expressed concerns about the problem of exacerbating inequality and discrimination. On the one hand, technologies like Oocyte Cryopreservation may promise to emancipate women and increase opportunities; on the other hand, they may also consolidate the existing unequal structure and lead to new forms of discrimination. She also emphasized that the Chinese government currently holds a cautious attitude towards whether to allow their use for social purposes. Zhao Yue argued that the health field should cooperate with the fields of social sciences and law to ensure the ethical and effective use of technology, and stressed the importance of a sound legal framework for managing technological progress.
Finally, Peter Herrmann emphasized the importance of balancing expert knowledge and community participation when solving health and human rights issues, and called for inclusive debates. Joe Finnerty expressed his deep agreement with this point, advocating for cross-country and cross-system comparative analysis, as well as exploring the potential impact of human rights discourse on health systems and health services.
2025年7月25日，HRUG定期研讨会之“数字时代的女性健康护理”主题会议顺利召开。本次会议由德国科隆大学医学院私人讲师赵悦主讲，爱尔兰国立科克大学应用社会研究学院政策分析家Joe Finnerty主持，中心研究员Peter Herrmann教授、土耳其中东科技大学政治学Mehmet Okyayuz教授、黎娟副教授、土耳其中东科技大学政治学博士生Tunahan Ali Usta以及Edip Hakkı Erdem等学者参与研讨。会议聚焦于女性健康领域的性别不平等与数字化解决方案，呼吁跨学科合作，整合法律和社会科学视角，推进数字时代的女性医疗保健。
赵悦首先以临床与研究双重视角，通过呈现相关医学研究数据，印证医学研究、医学教育和临床实践中的“性别数据缺口”对女性健康的系统性威胁。她指出，女性健康所面临的挑战远不止医疗本身，而是交织在经济、教育、医疗资源可及性、文化规范乃至全球气候变化与人口老龄化等多重维度之中。针对女性健康面临的挑战，赵悦提出信息通信技术（ICT）可能成为突破口，探讨如何将数字化方案应用于女性健康的促进，并介绍了其参与的欧盟跨机构项目如何借助数字医疗工具，把女性健康的倡导真正落到实处，为数字时代女性健康权益保护提供了兼具理论与实践价值的思考路径。
在讨论环节，与会人员进行了深入探讨。Tunahan Ali Usta提问道，在过去的十年左右时间里女性健康与意识是否取得了显著的进步？赵悦认为，妇女健康意识和研究确实取得了一些进展，但要达到理想状态仍然任重道远。以投资数据为例，目前用于女性健康的预算仍占很小一部分。她指出，随着制定投资计划时越来越强调多样性和性别问题，在医学研究设计中也应当考虑纳入更多女性患者和女性数据。
Edip Hakkı Erdem继续提问，如何看待数字时代背景下女性健康护理的心理维度正在发生转变？赵悦回应称，目前正在大力推广数字解决方案，比如针对心理健康的应用程序、咨询和服务，但也强调精确数据输入的重要性，设计心理健康工具或心理健康服务时必须充分考虑性别和年龄因素，并关注数字心理健康解决方案中对女性友好设计的需求，以确保精确和个性化的结果。
Mehmet Okyayuz提出两个问题，一是研究团队如何将其关于性别多样性的发现纳入机构政治网络，以及如何将理念传递给社会行动者；二是性别问题的多样化是否可能在某种程度上破坏对事物的整体性理解。赵悦回应道，其所在的研究团队成立了性别多样性工作组，努力在研究设计中平衡性别比例。同时，团队立足于关注女性健康议题，从基因层面推进项目，旨在通过创新理念、寻找全球合作伙伴、开展跨学科努力等手段一步步地扩大影响，并付诸实践。
Joe Finnerty继续探讨女性健康和治疗不平等的深层次原因，提出有些分析将其归因于父权制度，反思了赵悦提供的微观解决方案在父权制度系统内的局限性。赵悦也强调需要采取更全面的方法来解决问题，并指出深入探索和合作努力应对系统性挑战的重要性。
Peter Herrmann基于冰山模型提出，医学和学术研究中对女性健康问题兴趣和重视的增加，是否存在来自经济体系和社会层面的压力？赵悦表示认同，一方面，医疗护理的改善以及教育水平的提升，使得女性能够实现经济独立；另一方面，女性在行业领域的领导力也使得更多关于健康的需求成为可能。对女性健康的日益关注的确与经济和社会权力以及法律问题密切相关，同时赵悦也认为健康是构建社会平衡架构的基础。
黎娟讨论了疫情之后性别差距扩大的问题，她在承认辅助生殖技术（ART）潜在益处的同时，对加剧不平等和歧视的问题提出了担忧。一方面，像冻卵这样的技术可能会承诺解放女性、增加机会，但另一方面也可能巩固现有的不平等结构并导致新的歧视形式，同时也强调了中国政府目前对是否允许将其用于社会目的持谨慎态度。赵悦认为，健康领域应当与社会科学和法律领域进行合作，以确保技术的使用合乎道德和有效，同时强调完善的法律框架对于管理技术进步的重要性。
最后，Peter Herrmann着重强调了在解决健康和人权问题时平衡专家知识与社区参与的重要性，呼吁包容性辩论。Joe Finnerty对此深表认同，呼吁跨国家和跨系统的比较分析，以及探讨人权话语对卫生系统、卫生服务的潜在影响。
Translation: Ying Li, Zhiwei Liang; Transcription: Yaxing Bai