COVID-19 kills fewer African women than men

African news for Sunday March 7, 2021

Source: monitor.co.ug

03/07/2021

Women in Africa are less likely to die from Covid-19 than men, but more likely to succumb to maternal complications due to limited access to reproductive services since the start of the pandemic, the UN said on Thursday citing reports.

A study of 28 African countries, including Guinea, Mauritius and Uganda, found that, on average, women accounted for a slightly lower proportion of coronavirus infections and deaths compared to men.

Overall, around 41% of reported Covid-19 cases were women, although the figures vary widely from 31% in Niger to over 57% in South Africa.

“In most countries, women are a little less likely to die from Covid-19 than men,” said the World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, during an online press conference.

But the pandemic has exposed gaps in health services, with women suffering the most from disrupted access to care.

“There has been an increase in maternal deaths in 10 countries,” Moeti said, referring to another study that gathered data between February and July 2020.

The highest jumps were recorded in Comoros, Mali, Senegal and South Africa.

Access to sexual and reproductive health care was already poor on the continent before the coronavirus hit.

But access has been worsened by restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19, pushing more women to seek unsafe informal abortions, Moeti said.

Overcrowded hospitals were often unable to see patients seeking services unrelated to the coronavirus, she added.

More data is still needed to determine the full magnitude of the effect.