A TB scientific section working group
Gender is one of the most important social determinants of health and should be a critical component of strategies to end the highly gendered global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Gender-responsive approaches that address cultural, structural, social, and individual determinants are essential to accelerate progress toward global targets to reduce TB morbidity and mortality.
The Gender Equity in TB Working Group will establish an inclusive forum through which researchers, practitioners, policy makers, civil society, TB-affected communities and their coalitions, and other stakeholders at local, regional, and global levels can mobilise knowledge on the role of gender in TB burden, prevention, and care for awareness and action in TB prevention and care through evidence-informed policy and practice.
The Working Group focuses on responding to evidence showing men’s high burden of TB,1,2,3 their limited access to timely diagnosis and treatment,4 and their high risk of treatment failure and death. 5 Based on these facts, modelling studies have to show that most new infections among men, women, and children are likely attributable to contact with men.6,7 Recognising that the response to TB is about everyone and that the determinants and impact of TB differ across genders, activities will also focus on women and persons with non-binary gender identities.
The Working Group will actively seek opportunities to synergise activities with existing working groups and with external groups addressing issues that intersect with gender and TB. The Working Group will also evolve to respond to new evidence and changing circumstances such as changes in funding and priorities, which has further exacerbated existing barriers and challenges, while also creating new gender-related issues which will require further understanding and consideration in the context of gender and TB.
Objectives:
- Maintain an inclusive community of stakeholders including researchers, practitioners, policy makers, civil society, TB-affected communities and their coalitions (Year 1-3)
- Create networking meetings for Working Group members to share evidence on: gender in TB burden, prevention, and care guidelines and strategies for addressing gender disparities and improving gender equity in TB prevention and care (Years 1-3)
- Identify evidence and policy gaps, outline research priorities, develop data-driven reports, and provide recommendations for change towards a gender-transformative response to TB (Year 1-3)
End deliverables:
- Develop and/or contribute to reports related to gender and TB outcomes
- Collection of resources based on the network meetings and activities
- Series of recorded webinars to share information, practice, and experience
- Annual progress reports
Co-Chairs:
Joseph Daniels, Arizona State University
Andrew Medina-Marino, Stellenbosch University
Steering Committee:
Jeremiah Chikovore, University of KwaZulu Natal
Maurine Murenga, TB Women Global, Kenya
Kerry Millington, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Camila Gianella Malca, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Amrita Daftary, York University
Ifeanyi Okekearu, SHOPS Plus Nigeria
Annie Kizilbash, Texas Department of State Health Services
Katherine Horton, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
1. World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis report 2021. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2021. 2. Horton KC, Macpherson P, Houben R, White R, Corbett E. Sex differences in tuberculosis burden and notifications in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med 2016; 13(9): e1002119 3. Ledesma JR, Ma J, Vongpradith A, et al. Global, regional, and national sex differences in the global burden of tuberculosis by HIV status, 1990–2019: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Infect Dis 2021. 4. Horton KC, Sumner T, Houben RM, Corbett EL, White RG. A Bayesian approach to understanding sex differences in tuberculosis disease burden. Am J Epidemiol 2018; 187(11): 2431-8. 5. Chidambaram V, Tun NL, Majella MG, et al. Male sex is associated with worse microbiological and clinical outcomes following tuberculosis treatment: A retrospective cohort study, a systematic review of the literature, and meta-analysis. Clin Infect Dis 2021. 6. Dodd PJ, Looker C, Plumb I, et al. Age- and sex-specific social contact patterns and incidence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Am J Epidemiol 2016; 183(2): 156-66. 7. Horton KC, Hoey AL, Béraud G, Corbett EL, White RG. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Sex Differences in Social Contact Patterns and Implications for Tuberculosis Transmission and Control. Emerg Infect Dis 2020; 26(5): 910