Presentation at 3rd GRF One Health Summit 2015The One Health Approach in Action - Tools and Projects

1. Gender Issues in Human, Animal and
Plant Health using a broad One
Health Perspective
Brigitte Bagnol1,2, Robyn Alders2,3 and Robyn
McConchie4
1. Department of Anthropology, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, South Africa
2. Kyeema Foundation, Brisbane, Australia & Maputo, Mozambique
3. Veterinary Science and the Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
4. Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
robyn.alders@sydney.edu.au
3rd GRF One Health Summit 2015
Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration for global public and animal health
4 - 6 October 2015 in Davos, Switzerland

2. Acknowledgements
Nothing happens without a
strong team:
 Farmers, communities
and colleagues who
have shared their time
and knowledge over the
year
 “Healthy Food Systems:
Nutrition•Diversity•Safety”
Project Node members
in Australia and beyond
2

3. What’s gender got to do with
infectious disease?
Why does
gender
matter?
Risks of infection
differ between
women and men
Ecosystem changes
affects men and
women differently
Men and women
impact the
environment
differently
Lack of gender
sensitivity impacts
negatively on disease
surveillance, control
and response and on
the environment

4. 1. Social, Economic, Legal,
Cultural and Political Factors

5. A complex web …
Marginalisation, poverty and other
vulnerabilities impact control of many women
and men over their life and health
Different socio-economic, racial and cultural
contexts vary greatly and should inform local
analysis and solutions
In many countries girls have less access to
education than their male colleagues

6. Socially defined roles
Including social, economic, cultural, legal and
political factors often determine which:
place men and women occupy in society,
animals and plants men or women have
accumulated knowledge and control of and
those from which they can benefit
These factors contribute to gender differences
in the risk of infection

7. Risk of infection
The risk of contracting a disease and the
subsequent impacts vary between different:
 genders,
 age groups,
 cultures, and
 social conditions

8. Exposure to the Ebola
hemorrhagic fever virus
Transmission route Gender role Human group
affected
Period of the
outbreak cycle
From infected
primate
Hunting Adult male Onset of the
outbreak
From infected
persons
Caring for sick
people
Female youth, adult
and elder women
Successive phase of
the outbreak
From infected
persons
Caring for sick
people
Health care staff
usually mainly
female
Successive phase of
the outbreak
From infected
persons
Caring for sick
people
Traditional healers
and midwives
Successive phase of
the outbreak
From infected
persons
No specific gender
role
Sick patients in
hospital
Successive phase of
the outbreak
From infected
persons
Preparing the body
of the death
Usually women,
influenced by
gender and cultural
norms
Successive phase of
the outbreak
WHO 2007

9. 2. Human, Animal and Plant
Diseases Impact Men and
Women Differently

10. Case study: Newcastle disease
in village chickens
 Village chickens
frequently only livestock
under women’s control
 Newcastle disease (ND)
causes high mortality in
endemic areas
 Animal health services
focus on ruminants in
many locations

11. Gender-sensitive research
Resources controlled by
women:
Used to support education
and nutrition of children
Better educated women
have fewer children
Vaccination: good for the chicken
& good for her owner
This sustainable ND
control model was
20 years in the
making …

12. Community-based
vaccination

13. Women and children are the
major beneficiaries

14. 3. Biological Differences
Between Men and Women

15. Biological factors
Influence differences in exposure, infection
and mortality rates of men and women
Impact of reproductive status (e.g.
menstruation, pregnancy and lactation) on
immune and other physiological systems

16. 4. Implication of Gender
Issues for Disease
Surveillance, Control and
Response

17. Gender-sensitive disease
prevention, surveillance and
response
Risk analysis and vulnerability for all groups
must be analyzed in the light of economic, legal
and sociological contexts that
fuel the spread of the disease,
increase the burden of care, and
prevent or facilitate effective treatment and
support

18. Gender-sensitive check list
• Gender analyses conducted in all phases of
programming and implementation
• All data such as infection rate and case-fatality
disaggregated by gender
• Disease symptoms for men and women
collected and analysed separately

19. Take home message
The active involvement of social scientists in
One Health activities is essential to ensure that
the different knowledge held by men and
women, their roles, and the impact of these are
understood and used to deliver effective,
efficient and sustainable One health programs

20. Bibliography
Alders, R., Awuni, J., Bagnol, B., Farrell, P., and de Haan, N. 2013. Impact of Avian Influenza
on village poultry production globally. EcoHealth 11(1):63-72.
Bagnol, B. (2009). Gender issues in small-scale family poultry production: experiences with
Newcastle Disease and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza control. World’s Poultry
Sciences Journal, 65, 231-240.
Bagnol, B., Alders, R. and McConchie. 2015. Gender issues in human, animal and plant
diseases: the importance of including gender sensitivity in the ecohealth paradigm.
Environment and Natural Resources Research 5(1):62-76.
Banwell, C., Ulijazsek, S., & Dixon, J. (eds.). (2013). When Culture Impacts Health. Global
Lessons for Effective Health Research. Amsterdam.
Hewlett, S. B., & Amola, R. P. (2003). Cultural contexts of Ebola in Northern Uganda.
Emerging Infectious Diseases, 9 (10), 1242-1248.
Latour, Bruno. (2012). Enquête sur les modes d’existence. Une anthropologie des modernes.
Paris: La Découverte.

21. Thank you for your attention.