Emerging evidence from China suggests that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is deadlier for infected men than women with a 2.8% fatality rate being reported in Chinese men versus 1.7% in women. Further, sex-disaggregated data for COVID-19 in several European countries show a similar number of cases between the sexes, but more severe outcomes in aged men. Case fatality is highest in men with pre-existing cardiovascular conditions. The mechanisms accounting for the reduced case fatality rate in women are currently unclear but may offer potential to develop novel risk stratification tools and therapeutic options for women and men. The present review summarizes latest clinical and epidemiological evidence for gender and sex differences in COVID-19 from Europe and China. We discuss potential sex-specific mechanisms modulating the course of disease, such as hormone-regulated expression of genes encoding for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) entry receptors angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) 2 receptor and TMPRSS2 as well as sex hormone-driven innate and adaptive immune responses and immunoaging. Finally, we elucidate the impact of gender-specific lifestyle, health behavior, psychological stress, and socioeconomic conditions on COVID-19 and discuss sex specific aspects of antiviral therapies. The sex and gender disparities observed in COVID-19 vulnerability emphasize the need to better understand the impact of sex and gender on incidence and case fatality of the disease and to tailor treatment according to sex and gender. The ongoing and planned prophylactic and therapeutic treatment studies must include prospective sex- and gender-sensitive analyses.

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Impact of sex and gender on COVID-19 outcomes in Europe.

The goal of sex and gender analysis is to promote rigorous, reproducible and responsible science. Incorporating sex and gender analysis into experimental design has enabled advancements across many disciplines, such as improved treatment of heart disease and insights into the societal impact of algorithmic bias. Here we discuss the potential for sex and gender analysis to foster scientific discovery, improve experimental efficiency and enable social equality. We provide a roadmap for sex and gender analysis across scientific disciplines and call on researchers, funding agencies, peer-reviewed journals and universities to coordinate efforts to implement robust methods of sex and gender analysis. The authors discuss the potential for sex and gender analysis to foster scientific discovery, improve experimental efficiency and enable social equality.

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Sex and gender analysis improves science and engineering

Importance If we assume that women and men exhibit variations of the same fundamental vascular physiology, then conventional analyses of subclinical measures would suggest that women catch up to men by midlife in the extent of potentially important vascular disease. Alternatively, under the assumption that vascular physiology may fundamentally differ between women and men, a sex-specific analysis of existing data could offer new insights and augment our understanding of sex differences in cardiovascular diseases. Objective To evaluate whether longitudinal patterns of blood pressure (BP) elevation differ between women and men during the life course when considering baseline BP levels as the reference. Design, Setting, and Participants We conducted sex-specific analyses of longitudinal BP measures (144 599 observations) collected for a period of 43 years (1971 to 2014) in 4 community-based US cohort studies. The combined total included 32 833 participants (54% female) spanning ages 5 to 98 years. Data were analyzed between May 4, 2019, and August 5, 2019. Exposures Age and serially assessed longitudinal BP measures: systolic BP, diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and pulse pressure (PP). Main Outcomes and Measures Sex-specific change in each primary BP measure compared with baseline BP levels, derived from multilevel longitudinal models fitted over the age span, and new-onset cardiovascular disease events. Results Of the 32 833 participants, 17 733 were women (54%). Women compared with men exhibited a steeper increase in BP that began as early as in the third decade and continued through the life course (likelihood ratio test χ2 = 531 for systolic BP; χ2 = 123 for diastolic BP; χ2 = 325 for MAP; and χ2 = 572 for PP;Pfor all Conclusions and Relevance In contrast with the notion that important vascular disease processes in women lag behind men by 10 to 20 years, sex-specific analyses indicate that BP measures actually progress more rapidly in women than in men, beginning early in life. This early-onset sexual dimorphism may set the stage for later-life cardiovascular diseases that tend to present differently, not simply later, in women compared with men.

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Sex Differences in Blood Pressure Trajectories Over the Life Course.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(19)30765-2.pdf

Gender norms and health: insights from global survey data

https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3186&context=facpub

The legal determinants of health: harnessing the power of law for global health and sustainable development

Gender inequality and restrictive gender norms: framing the challenges to health

https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2848&context=facpub

The next WHO Director-General's highest priority: a Global Treaty on the Human Right to Health

The underpinning theme of the 2016 INTEREST Conference held in Yaounde, Cameroon, 3-6 May 2016 was ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Focused primarily on HIV treatment, pathogenesis and prevention research in resource-limited settings, the conference attracted 369 active delegates from 34 countries, of which 22 were in Africa. Presentations on treatment optimization, acquired drug resistance, care of children and adolescents, laboratory monitoring and diagnostics, implementation challenges, HIV prevention, key populations, vaccine and cure, hepatitis C, mHealth, financing the HIV response and emerging pathogens, were accompanied by oral, mini-oral and poster presentations. Spirited plenary debates on the UNAIDS 90-90-90 treatment cascade goal and on antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis took place. Joep Lange career guidance sessions and grantspersonship sessions attracted early career researchers. At the closing ceremony, the Yaounde Declaration called on African governments; UNAIDS; development, bilateral, and multilateral partners; and civil society to adopt urgent and sustained approaches to end HIV by 2030.

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Debrework Zewdie

Papers

Gender inequality and restrictive gender norms: framing the challenges to health

The next WHO Director-General's highest priority: a Global Treaty on the Human Right to Health

Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030: Scientific Developments from the 2016 INTEREST Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon.