page_title: Gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
section_title: Women in medical roles
hierarchical_section_title: Gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic / Impact on health / Women in medical roles
caption_attribution_description: English: Global health and social care workers 70% women, leaders in the global health sector 30% women
context_page_description: Coronavirus disease 2019 is known to affect both men and women, but the impact of the pandemic and mortality rates are different for men and women. From a purely medical perspective: mortality due to COVID-19 is significantly higher in men in studies conducted in China and Italy. A higher percentage of nurses are women, which may give them a higher chance of being exposed to the virus.
  However, when looking at the larger socio-cultural impacts of the pandemic: School closures, lockdowns and reduced access to healthcare following the COVID-19 pandemic may differentially affect the genders and possibly exaggerate existing gender disparities.
context_section_description: Globally, women make up 70 percent of workers in the health and social sector. 90% of the healthcare workers in China's Hubei province (where the disease originated) were women and 78% of the healthcare workers in the USA are women. Women are playing a disproportionate role in responding to the disease, including as front line healthcare workers (as well as caregivers at home and community leaders and mobilisers). In some countries, COVID-19 infections among female health workers are twice that of their male counterparts. Women are still paid much less than their male counterparts in almost all countries and hold fewer leadership positions in the health sector. Masks and other protective equipment designed and sized for men leave women at greater risk of exposure.
caption: 70% of global health and social care workers are women, 30% of leaders in the global health sector are women
exif: {}