Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, details about the virus’ sex and gender implications have begun to emerge: More men than women are dying from the coronavirus. But other details — such as why, or what social or biological mechanisms are involved, or what that means for treatment or public health — remain unknown.
One problem, experts say, is an international blind spot to sex and gender. Global disease surveillance systems have done a poor job of monitoring how the virus affects people of different gender identities or sexes.
A new database is trying to address that. The project, compiled by researchers across the globe and spearheaded by gender equity group Global Health 5050, is the first major effort to capture and quantify COVID’s gendered impact.
The data highlights blind spots in how countries track the virus. And the United States is particularly far behind, said Sarah Hawkes, an epidemiologist and co-director of Global Health 5050.
Those information gaps matter, she added. Understanding COVID-19’s sex and gender disparities can help researchers develop effective medical responses to the virus, or craft effective public health outreach campaigns. ...
