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Contextualising gender intersectionality with the COVID-19 pandemic

K Baig1

  • 1Institute of Infection Prevention and Research, Karachi, Pakistan.

Public Health
|August 30, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Countries with higher gender inequality and poorer healthcare access show a greater male to female ratio in COVID-19 cases. This suggests underutilization of testing services, influenced by social and policy factors.

Area of Science:

  • Global Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Sociology

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected populations globally.
  • Understanding sex-specific disease patterns is crucial for public health.
  • Gender inequality and healthcare access are potential determinants of disease surveillance outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between the Gender Inequality Index (GII) and Healthcare Access and Quality Index (HAQI) with the male to female ratio of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
  • To identify factors influencing sex-disaggregated COVID-19 case reporting.

Main Methods:

  • Secondary analysis of global COVID-19 case data, GII, and HAQI datasets.
  • Utilized sex-disaggregated COVID-19 case data from Global Health 50/50.
  • Employed Spearman's correlation to assess associations between GII, HAQI, and the male to female case ratio.

Main Results:

  • A significant positive correlation was observed between the GII and the male to female ratio of COVID-19 cases (Spearman's rho = 0.681, P < 0.001).
  • A significant negative correlation was found between HAQI and the male to female ratio of COVID-19 cases (Spearman's rho = -0.676, P < 0.001).
  • Countries like Cambodia, Pakistan, and Nepal exhibited the highest male to female ratios.

Conclusions:

  • Higher gender inequality and poorer healthcare access are linked to increased male to female ratios in confirmed COVID-19 cases.
  • This disparity may indicate underutilization of testing services among females, influenced by societal and policy factors.
  • Emphasizes the need for robust, gender-disaggregated data and gender-responsive strategies for pandemic preparedness and response.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID19Gender inequalityHealthcare accessSurveillance

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