While gender plays an important role in a person’s risk of exposure and vulnerability to drug-resistant infections, few national action plans (NAPs) on AMR include gender considerations.
Researchers
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The detrimental impacts of AMR are not evenly distributed across populations, and disparities, including those based on gender, are evident. Despite the profound implications of this gendered impact, there exists little research on the intersection of gender and AMR.
To support policymakers in making their national action plans on AMR more gender-responsive, the World Health Organization, with support from the Global Strategy Lab*, developed a guidance document including 20 evidence-informed recommendations. These recommendations are based on a review of the existing scientific evidence and input from AMR and gender experts and are designed so they can be tailored to individual country contexts and needs.
What Does the Available Data and Research Say about Gender-based Exposure Risk?
This research found that little of the available data on incidence of AMR and antimicrobial use are broken down by gender. Data available by gender, age and other social factors, are important tools for researchers and policymakers when deciding on effective AMR interventions. The research that is available shows that gender norms, roles, and relations impact the settings where people are more likely to be exposed to infections, a person’s health care-seeking behavior, and how antimicrobials are prescribed and used.
Key findings from the research include:
- Traditional gendered paid and unpaid work can lead to increased exposure risk to drug resistant infections. For example, women make up over 70% of the global health workforce.
- Male-dominated professions, including animal husbandry, industrial farming and slaughterhouses, expose men to antibiotics and (drug-resistant) infections.
- Negative experiences with the health system and stigma can deter women and men who have sex with men from seeking specialized care to diagnose and treat sexually-transmitted infections or urinary tract infections.
- Women are 27% more likely to receive antibiotics throughout their lifetime than men.
Key recommendation from the study include:
- Countries should collect data on antimicrobial usage and drug-resistant infections, broken down by sex, age and other socio-economic indicators.
- Include gender experts and promote equal participation of women, men and other vulnerable groups and/or groups facing discrimination in multi-sectoral AMR coordination mechanism and technical working groups.
* This research was carried out through GSL’s special designation as the WHO Collaborating Centre on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance. For this project, the team at GSL conducted the evidence review and wrote the report.
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