Malaria is a killing disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes. Although malaria affects both sexes, there are clear gender differences in the incidence or case rates, health outcomes, and who has access to preventive interventions. Women in areas where malaria is endemic face specific vulnerabilities and risks about malaria and this article examines the gender gaps in malaria, and women’s empowerment and malaria.
Understanding Gender Disparities in Malaria
1. Prevalence and Risk Factors
It’s important to recognize that, across both space and time, gender inequalities can manifest as either higher or lower malaria prevalence and outcomes for women, and there are a variety of underlying factors that contribute to this. Important determinants include:
- Biological Differences: Women: Men Because women and men react biologically to malaria infection in differing ways, women are more likely than men to develop severe malaria and its consequences: pregnancy causes women’s immune responses to be changed in ways that make them more susceptible to being severely affected.
- Socioeconomic Factors: Women generally have primary responsibility for cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children, all of which lead to increased contact with mosquitoes. Many women also lack access to resources and information about malaria prevention, limiting their ability to protect themselves and their families.
- Access to Care: In many parts of the world, women continue to face hurdles when it comes to accessing care for diagnosing and treating malaria, whether it’s the lack of resources, transportation, or cultural norms that prioritize men’s care.
2. Impact of Malaria on Women
Malaria affects women in several significant ways:
- Malaria in pregnancy leads to severe maternal and fetal complications, ranging from anemia, low birth weight, and preterm delivery to maternal and neonatal mortality.
- Economic Burden: The economic toll of malaria on women can be high. Productivity losses may result from illness, as can channeling resources into household members who also fall prey to the disease. Healthcare costs and lost wages can deepen poverty and limit household earnings.
- Social roles: In a wide range of cultures, women are usually responsible for most of the caring and household work, which increases their risk of being bitten and exposes them to further hardship and stress associated with caring for sick family members.
Strategies for Empowering Women in Malaria Prevention
Female empowerment in malaria prevention can increase the uptake of malaria-prevention tools by tackling the particular issues that women face and educating and equipping them in ways that are effective and relevant. Here are some suggested approaches:
1. Education and Awareness
- Targeted Health Education: Identify and implement a health education program targeted at women, especially those with young children or who are pregnant, about the risks of malaria during pregnancy, how to prevent it, and what to do if those symptoms arise.
- Community Workshops: Organise local community workshops for malaria prevention and control, especially involving women so they can receive malaria information, ask questions, and have their experiences shared.
2. Access to Preventive Tools
- Insecticide-Treated Nets (ITNs): Distribute and make accessible ITNs to women who are pregnant or are mothers of young children. Support the use of ITNs and overcome the barriers that may prevent women from using them effectively.
- Repellents and Mosquito Control: Facilitate access to mosquito repellents and support local activities targeting mosquito breeding sites. Encourage the use of repellents as supplementary preventive behavior.
3. Healthcare Access and Support
Mobile Health Clinics: Set up mobile health clinics that provide malaria screening, treatment, and education in remote or underserved areas. Mobile clinics are a way to deliver health care to gender-vulnerable women and families who have limited access to care.
- Community Distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets Supplementation: Provides and delivers nets to communities who do not purchase or receive them Business support: Provides ITNs to employees in companies such as mines and hotels, and ensures workers who become ill with malaria receive treatment
- Pregnancy-Specific Interventions: Provide malaria prevention and treatment programs specifically for pregnant women, including intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) as well as frequent antenatal care, including malaria monitoring.
4. Community Engagement and Advocacy
- Involve women in decision-making: Involving women in community health decision-making and malaria control processes is important because their needs and activities often differ from men’s and there are cultural differences that require consideration.
- Respect Women’s Knowledge of Malaria: Women play crucial roles in the health of their families and communities. Support women as health leaders and advocates, and train them as community health workers or peer educators to extend malaria-prevention efforts and build local capacity.
- Challenge gender norms: Work to change gender norms that contribute to unequal prevention and treatment of malaria. Advocate for gender equality in access to healthcare, and to dismantle other barriers for girls and women.
Case Studies and Success Stories
Several initiatives around the world have successfully empowered women in malaria prevention:
- Malaria Consortium’s Women’s Health Initiative: in parts of Africa, women have been empowered through ongoing education targeting women, and the distribution of ITNs. This has resulted in increased ITN use and improved malaria-prevention practices among women and their families.
- The ‘Safe Motherhood’ Program: Since the implementation of safe motherhood and malaria prevention during pregnancy program in Nigeria, more women and their babies have better health: pregnant women receive vital services and support, including IPTp and antenatal care.
- Aities in Endemic Regions – low-cost malaria-prevention programs: women have been trained as community health workers to deliver malaria education, distribute ITNs, and help to support local health efforts, enhancing malaria prevention and control measures, and improving health indicators.
Future Directions
To help women better protect themselves from malaria, continued work is needed in these areas:
- Research and Data Collection: It is essential to research women’s needs and experiences thoroughly. To achieve this, use gender-disaggregated data to design effective social and behavior change strategies and inform relevant policies.
- Address Structural Inequities: In addition, through policy advocacy, push for policies that address prevalent gender inequities in malaria prevention and health system access. Furthermore, promote initiatives that advance gender equality and facilitate the development of better health infrastructure.
- Innovation/Technology: Moreover, exploring innovative uses of technology and digital tools is crucial for malaria prevention among women. For instance, mobile health applications, digital globe platforms, digital learning and education platforms, and data analysis for diagnoses and treatment pathways could significantly enhance prevention efforts. By leveraging these technologies, we can create more effective solutions tailored to the unique needs of women in the fight against malaria.
The observation of gender differences has promoted strategies to empower women to better engage in malaria prevention and control efforts. Specifically, these strategies include empowering women to make decisions about their lives, ensuring their access to prevention tools and health services, and improving core response components by promoting their participation in clinical and community monitoring of programs. Moreover, enhancing the agency of women is essential not only to improve the health of the group but also because it has positive effects on the well-being of individual women, their families, communities, and society as a whole. In this way, these results address some of the health gap inequalities and are crucial to reducing the impact of malaria worldwide.
