CHENNAI: There is a pressing need to collect and analyse specialised data to understand the impact of Covid on different genders in order to mitigate the long-term impacts better, said panellists speaking at an online panel discussion organised by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) on Saturday.
Speaking on the ‘Gendered Impact of the Covid-19 Crisis’, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist with the World Health Organisation (WHO), said, “We can identify health inequalities only if we have proper gender analysis.” Giving an insight into how the pandemic impacted women, Professor Nitya Rao, Gender and Development studies, University of East Anglia in the UK, said personal protective equipment across the world have been designed for male bodies, while the majority of frontline workers are women. “Women who were domestic workers were the first ones to be laid off when the Covid hit.
There is also an increase in the intimate-partner violence.” Poonam Mattreja, executive director of Population Foundation of India, estimated that there is more than a 40 per cent decline in institutional deliveries. “Sterilisation is unavailable for women.
The country can expect a large number of child births in nine months, since lockdown came into force.” Over 28 million children have been affected by the closure of anganwadis in India, said Anjana Mangalagiri, senior fellow, Institute of Social Sciences. “Girl children who have dropped out of college may be pushed into early marriage.”Options like education through radio must be considered as an alternative to online education, she said adding “the National Education Policy could have been postponed to incorporate lessons learned from the Covid pandemic”.