Gender issues in the control and prevention of malaria and urinary schistosomiasis in endemic foci in Cameroon

In terms of the number of people they affect and their socioeconomic and medical consequences malaria and schistosomiasis are the most important diseases in tropical and subtropical countries. Women are not considered genetically more predisposed than men to malaria and schistosomiasis but the gender roles of women as determined by the social and cultural beliefs and values of various tribes and ethnic groups place them in greater contact with disease transmission sites. This paper describes the results of two studies conducted using rapid assessment methods to determine the gender-related factors associated with urinary schistosomiasis in 1992 in Kotto Barombi and malaria in 1993 in Simbok. The purpose of both studies was to determine whether social cultural and economic factors in the study areas put women at greater risk than men of acquiring the diseases. The studies found close links between womens gender roles and their susceptibility to chronic or recurrent ill health from urinary schistosomiasis and malaria. Findings are presented on womens gender-specific roles womens perception of causes and transmission of disease womens perception of severity and complications of the diseases womens treatment-seeking behavior and womens proposals for the control and prevention of disease.