Prioritising women's and girls' health in disaster settings: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and the overlapping crises affecting Beirut, Lebanon.
Glob Public Health
; 17(5): 794-799, 2022 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1700753
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed strain on healthcare systems across the world; however, countries experiencing overlapping crises such as economic or political unrest face immense pressure in ensuring routine healthcare services can continue to operate. Despite being less likely suffer severe disease or die from COVID-19, data suggest women have experienced poorer mental health, higher rates of unemployment, and more social isolation during the pandemic. In general, we know women and girls experience multiple forms of disadvantage in disaster contexts including being more likely to become homeless, work as an unpaid carer, and to experience poverty. Research from previous disaster contexts has demonstrated that women's healthcare services tend to be deprioritised in the emergency response, and reports suggest this has been the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper highlights key priorities for safeguarding women's and girls' health in disaster contexts, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, by drawing on learning from the multiple crises facing Beirut, including responding to the pandemic, economic collapse, and the Beirut Port Explosion in 2020.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Disasters
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Glob Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
17441692.2022.2043924
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