Within the process of public health emergency preparedness (PHEP), promotion and support to breastfeeding and infant feeding assume high relevance. When a major humanitarian crisis or a natural disaster occurs, the issue of protecting the infant and young child feeding, namely infant feeding in emergency (IFE), seems to be a priority. Actually, the first solutions mainly concern supply and prompt delivery of breast-milk substitutes (BMS), that are carefully regulated by the World Health Organization (WHO) through a specific international code.
One of the six parallel sessions at the ASSET Final Event (Rome; 30-31 October 2017) dealt with gender issues, while one presentation was specifically about women and science.
Gender bias is powerful and insidious. It is an expression of unequal distribution of power within societies and of the low value placed on women's work and contributions to public life. Recent reports of sexual harassment and assault of women by men in powerful positions have regalvanised solidarity around women's rights, and remind us that disadvantage, discrimination, and sexism are a regular part of the lived experience of many women. These reflect broader and unjustified inequalities between men and women that have persisted across time, culture, and geography. That disadvantages exist for women in science, medicine, and global health is thus unsurprising—and yet wholly unacceptable. The renewed visibility of women in these areas, such as the Twitter campaign #allmalepanel, offer hope for change.
Caregiving has traditionally been a female area, both domestically and in the workplace. Due to the nature of influenza, healthcare workers and those in close contact with young children are at a greater risk of exposure to influenza viruses, both seasonal outbreaks and pandemic strains (Zhang et al 2011). Studies have generally shown compliance rates from as low as 10% to 40-50% among healthcare workers, with no clear pattern to ascertain why this is (Tell Me 2012).
Women who are pregnant are more likely to have severe disease and hospitalisation with either seasonal or pandemic influenza, compared to the general population or compared to non-pregnant women of the same age group. During pandemics, the mortality rate for pregnant women is higher than non-pregnant women. However, this is not the case with seasonal influenza unless the strain is particularly severe (WHO 2010).
Persons over the age of 65 have a higher risk for severe influenza-related complications and have the highest risk of mortality from influenza. Vaccination of older persons have traditionally been the main focus of influenza vaccine policy, and while vaccines are not as efficient in this population as in younger adults, it still remains the most effective public health tool to protect against influenza (WHO 2012). Vaccination recommendations vary slightly between countries in Europe, however almost all cover older people as a specific target group (Endrich et al 2009).
People with already existing conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and pulmonary/respiratory disease, are at greater risk from influenza (Logue et al., 2011). Women are more likely to have diabetes in their lifetime than men, and studies in the US show that women, particularly those in lower socioeconomic groups, receive less adequate diabetes care than men from the same socioeconomic group (WHO, 2010).
As a part of the ASSET project, the European Institute of Women’s Health were tasked with liaising with local schools to disseminate the activities of the ASSET project. The schools were to have received funding under the Erasmus Plus programme, which is the programme that combines all the EU’s current schemes for education, training, youth and sport in Europe.
Gender is considered a main issue in Horizon 2020, the largest ever EU Research and Innovation programme, with €80 billion worth of funding available over seven years. The European Commission has identified seven priority areas of societal challenges, with the goal targeting investment in research in these fields. They are:
It is often said that sex and gender differences are perceived as overlooked in research design and in clinical trials, even those on vaccines. In 2010, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published the document Sex, gender and influenza, which states that many reports of influenza vaccination rates as well as the safety, efficacy and effectiveness of vaccines around the world do not disaggregate data by sex.
