Gender “ Could be Coronavirus Key ”

By External SourceMar 17 2020 (IPS) Analysing how coronavirus impacts genders differently could be key in fighting the disease, say public health experts. Women are on the coronavirus frontlines as healthcare workers, primary caregivers and migrant workers, but policy responses often fail to consider how gender and epidemics interact. The Ebola and Zika outbreaks underline the urgent need for gendered analyses, says Clare Wenham, assistant professor in global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Globally, women make up about 70 per cent of the health workforce and are primarily responsible for childcare, particularly in countries where schools have closed. Not recognising that this creates different needs means you’re then not creating policy to mitigate against it Recognising the differing effects on men and women is a “fundamental step” in public health emergency responses, wrote a global group of researchers in a recent comment in The Lancet. “We are not aware of any gender analysis of the outbreak by global health institutions or governments in affected countries or in preparedness phases,” they say. Globally, women make up about 70 per cent of the health workforce and are primarily responsible for childcare, particularly in countries where schools have closed, the researchers say. “Not recognising that this creates different needs means you’re then not creating policy to mitigate against it,” says Wenham. During West A...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Gender Global Headlines Health TerraViva United Nations Coronavirus Source Type: news