Giving Compass' Take:

• Reuters reports on recent remarks from U.S. doctors to create more gender equity in health care, specifically when it comes to support for family medical leave and reproductive health services.

• What can nonprofit professionals do to advance this effort? More access to screenings and preventative care for women in underserved communities would be a start.

• Here's how to close the global leadership gap in health for women.

Making it easier and more affordable for women to access care, and supporting research that includes how treatments work in both sexes, can improve the health of all Americans, not just women, U.S. doctors argue.

“Women and their families are adversely affected by policies that do not support women’s health,” said Dr. Ana Maria Lopez, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP).

Such policies “hurt the health of our population,” Lopez, a professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, said by email.

In a position paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the ACP lays out many areas where health policy decisions may result in discrimination or inequitable barriers to care for women.

Among other things, the paper touches on paid family and medical leave, domestic violence, sexual abuse and harassment, and participation in clinical trials. The paper also addresses access to coverage for reproductive health services.

Read the full article about a call for more health policies that support women by Lisa Rapaport at reuters.com