Medical PPE unfit for women on COVID-19 frontlines

根据全球卫生网络中女性的一项调查，不到五分之一的女性前线卫生工作者说，保护服装适合他们。

Just 14 per cent ofwomensurveyed globally reported that personal protective equipment (PPE) did what the name suggests – provided them protection from infection.

The report published last week (19 November) documents gendered challenges around PPE in thehealth部门。调查来自50多个国家 /地区的892名妇女，揭示了PPE访问，合身和设计的普遍不平等。

“This is a wakeup call to build healthcare systems that are inclusive and protective of healthcare workers before we get to the next crisis point.”

约翰·霍普金斯彭博公共卫生学院副科学家罗斯玛丽·摩根（Rosemary Morgan）

PPE主要是designed for menand often fails to protect women,研究has shown. While 70 per cent of the world’s health and care workers are women, they fill just25％高级领导职务。

“Women are 90 per cent of nurses and have been the vast majority of healthcare workers in patient facing roles in the pandemic,” the Women in Global Health (WGH) report says. “Therefore, if medical PPE is not fit for women, it is not fit for the majority of the health workforce.”

According to the report, PPE of all types is too big for women, including respirators, gloves and gowns. Poorly fitting masks were highlighted as particularly problematic.

“Ill-fitting masks not only fail to protect women but also cause suffering,” said the report, noting that commonly cited efforts to modify masks for a better fit caused sores and bruising.

来自非高加索人口的医疗保健工人由于面部形状的多样化而面临面罩的额外挑战。一位女性卫生工作者告诉研究人员：“由于我们的面孔小于平均水平，大多数南亚和东南亚女性员工都无法进行面罩拟合测试。”

Menstruation was another challenge for women wearing PPE. Compounded by the fact that PPE coveralls cannot be removed when using the toilet without being discarded, menstruating women reported stress, anxiety and health impacts such as rashes and infections from wearing sanitary pads for too long.

For women in low- and middle-income countries, where global shortages and the affordability of PPE restricted supply, women reported having to make tough decisions about whether they could use the toilet.

一位来自赞比亚的护士说：“由于污染的风险和PPE供应短缺，您确实必须三思而后行。”“我知道，如果我决定在轮班期间决定去洗手间，我很有可能再获得更多的PPE。”

WGH的政策和研究助理雷切尔·汤普森（Rachel Thompson）兼报告首席作者说，PPE的差异已有一段时间了，但COVID-19将问题推向了聚光灯。

“During the pandemic, health workers have had to wear PPE for the full duration of shifts, for months at a time. Issues with poor fit and design can no longer be ignored,” she toldscidev.net。

With the World Health Organizationpredicting a global shortfallof 18 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and lower-middle income countries, the provision of adequate PPE could prove crucial for staff retention and supporting those who remain.

“PPE matters to women health workers. It’s important for their safety but also for morale and a symbol that they are valued and being protected,” Thompson said.

WGH has used the report to call on governments, employers and development bodies, such as the WHO, to develop and adhere to essential standards for gender appropriate PPE. The network has also appealed for the elevation of women to senior health leadership roles, where they can influence PPE procurement decisions.

约翰·霍普金斯彭博公共卫生学院的副科学家罗斯玛丽·摩根（Rosemary Morgan）专门研究性别，交叉性和卫生系统研究，他说，PPE的不平等只是对更大的性别响应式医疗保健系统的更大需求的一部分。

“COVID-19 has shone a light on inequalities that have always been there and have been exacerbated, and drawn attention to issues related to sex and gender that we’ve never seen before,” Morgan said.

“This is a wakeup call to build healthcare systems that are inclusive and protective of healthcare workers before we get to the next crisis point.”

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Global desk.