Dr Astrid Bonfield
CEO, Malaria No More UK
Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are building resistance to key tools; extreme weather events are making the disease harder to predict; and funding shortfalls are leaving us ill-equipped to tackle it.
Women and girls are at the eye of this storm as they often experience the burden of malaria disproportionately and over a longer period. This is in part because cultural norms, like seeking a husband’s permission before visiting a health centre, can hamper a woman’s ability to get treated for malaria, for example. Pregnant women are also one the groups most at risk of malaria, with one in three in Sub-Saharan Africa being exposed to the disease during pregnancy.1
Addressing gender inequality in malaria
Women are four times more likely to be the main caregiver in a household,2 too, which can hinder their education and career potential, making them less likely to have a seat at the table when important decisions are made around malaria.
These inequalities have been overlooked for too long. They have not only continued to put women and girls at a disproportionate risk but have also weakened our response to malaria as a whole. This is why we established our ‘Change the Story’ campaign: to ensure the voices of women and girls are amplified, so we can combat malaria better and more equitably.
Women are four times more likely to
be the main caregiver in a household.
Empower women for equity
By listening to the lived experiences of women and girls while ensuring they have a more prominent role, decisions can start to be made through their eyes to drive more equitable outcomes.
There is extensive insight and experience to support this. Some 70% of the global health workforce are women,3 for example, and 70% of community health workers in Sub-Saharan Africa are also women.4 The benefits would ripple outside of health systems and across societies and economies in particular as workforces are enhanced, stronger and healthier.
With the perfect storm of challenges continuing to hamper efforts to end malaria, we simply cannot afford to neglect their experience and expertise any longer — it’s time to Change the Story.
[1] World Health Organization. 2024. World malaria report 2024.
[2] M.Y. Tankeu. 2024. On Policy Africa. From Caregivers to Change-Makers: Empowering Women’s Political Participation by Acknowledging Unpaid Care Work in Sub-Saharan Africa.
[3] World Health Organization. 2021. Closing the leadership gap: gender equity and leadership in the global health and care workforce.
[4] T. Holt, et al. 2024. McKinsey & Company. Overcoming sub-Saharan Africa’s health workforce paradox.
