By MONICA KAYOMBO/Zambia/Lusaka
AS governments meet at the 70th Session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Media Alliance (GAMA) and partners hope for stronger decisions to advance fundamental human rights, such as gender equality and health, as they remain critical bedrocks to advancing progress on the right to health, including preventing AMR.
It has been realized that AMR has a high potential of contributing to gender-based inequalities and injustices. GAMA recently held a virtual meeting titled ‘AMR under a gender lens’, after which many experts expressed their views describing how AMR has been an impediment to issues of human rights.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) former Deputy Director General for Programmes and Chief Scientist, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the world cannot be successful in reducing or preventing AMR without tackling Gender-Based Violence (GBV), as violence impacts women’s access to healthcare.
“Women are at a very high risk of domestic, physical or sexual violence. This could lead to more infections. And because of their position within the household and the community, they are less likely to seek timely and adequate care for these injuries or infections, which could lead to drug-resistant infections. Whether it is sexually transmitted infections or urinary tract infections, or reproductive tract infections, or pelvic inflammatory disease, all of these are linked with sexual violence and an increased risk of antibiotic use,” she said.
Dr Swaminathan added that even if a woman may seek care, quite often follow-up is poor as she may have taken a partial course of antibiotics or the wrong doses. “Women facing an unplanned pregnancy, who go for an unsafe abortion in some cases, are also at higher risk of AMR.”
Bhakti Chavan, a survivor of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) and member of the WHO Task Force of AMR survivors, says: “Diseases like TB or HIV/AIDS carry a huge stigma in our society, especially for women. In many communities, a woman diagnosed with TB or HIV is judged not only as a patient but as someone who has brought shame to the family.”
Dr. Deepshikha Bhateja, Principal Research Scientist at the Indian School of Business (ISB), says there are norms around menstruation, caregiving responsibilities, and job suitability that lead to reduced access to WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) and lower education and awareness among women.
Dr. Esmita Charani, Associate Professor at Cape Town University, agrees that there is a need to understand the gendered roles within society and culture. “We have to understand what the access barrier is within the community – is it the husband or family members who are not allowing women to actually make it to the clinic in the first place?”
Dr Soumya Swaminathan cites the example of the feminization of agriculture, where women who are subsistence farmers, specializing in livestock and agriculture, and managing to look after their families single-handedly, have less access to health centers and financial autonomy.
Dr. Salman Khan, former member of the Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for AMR, observes that AMR is a deeply social problem. “We often frame AMR as a technical problem where microbes evolve, drugs fail, and antimicrobial pipelines dry up. But AMR is shaped by those who have power, whose health is prioritized, who control resources, and whose voices are ultimately heard in decision-making.”
Dr Mayssam Akroush, Founding President of The Pan Arab Women Physicians Association, says women can play a lead role in combating irrational antibiotic use that fuels AMR. “Women are the head of the pyramid and a very important part of the equation.”
Ms Shobha Shukla, Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA), says, “Antimicrobial Resistance or AMR is caused by misuse and overuse of medicines in sectors of human health, livestock health, food and agriculture, and it is also polluting our environment.”
The article highlights the need to address gender inequalities in National Action Plans on AMR and include gender-based violence indicators, recognizing that sexual health and violence services are hotspots for antibiotic exposure.
