content-specific.pptVIP

WHO’s Gender Policy “...WHO will, as a matter of policy and good public health practice, integrate gender considerations in all facets of its work.” “…integration of gender considerations, that is gender mainstreaming, must become standard practice in all policies and programmes.” “…all programmes will be expected to collect disaggregated data by sex, review and reflect on the gender aspects of their respective areas of work, and initiate work to develop content-specific materials.” Definition of Terms “Sex” refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of male and female animals: genitalia, reproductive organs, chromosomal complement, hormonal environment, etc. “Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, rights, responsibilities, possibilities, and limitations that, in a given society, are assigned to men and women -- in other words, to what is considered “masculine” and “feminine” in a given time and place Approximate # of blind people -- developed countries, China, India, and Africa (millions) Approximate # of blind people -- developed countries, China, India, and Africa -- by sex (millions) Higher prevalence of blindness among women: Why? Greater lifespans of women ? greater burden of degenerative blindness. But more women are blind at all ages. Must be another explanation. Differential mortality among blind men/women? No. Higher prevalence of blindness among women: Why? Women suffer from more trachoma than men, due to their gender-specific childcare activities -- but, again, the difference is too small to account for the overall difference in incidence. Most likely explanation? Differential use of eye-care services due to differences in gender roles and behaviors. Change in blindness prevalence (%) with improvements in eye care - Guangdong, China So . . . . One of the quickest ways to reduce overall levels of blindness, and thus move toward Vision 2020 goals, may be to increase women’s access to and utilization of eye-care services -- throug