Polish Journal of Public Health

Review Article, Pol J Public Health 2021;131: 71-75

Joanna Zembala-John 

Chair of Medicine and Environmental Epidemiology, Department of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, Poland

10.2478/pjph-2021-0014

© 2021 Medical University of Lublin. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonComercial-No Derivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

Abstract

The COVID-19 epidemic has negatively affected all spheres of life, leading to the deterioration of health and quality of life.
Although it has affected both men and women, it has had an extraordinary impact on the latter, exposing and exacerbating the existing health inequalities among those groups.
There is increasing evidence that both sex and gender-related factors make women more prone to the harmful effects of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, it is expected that the crisis caused by coronavirus will have long-term severe medical, social, and eco-nomic consequences in this population. This paper aimed to investigate the key factors contributing to the different outcomes of
COVID-19 in men and women and present multi-dimensional effects of coronavirus pandemic from the perspective of women.
Sex and gender differences must not be ignored in analyzing the impact of COVID-19. Sex/gender-oriented approach should be implemented in all public health actions: from collecting sex-disaggregated data to designing tailored repair post-COVID policies.

Keywords: COVID-19, women, sex, gender, health inequalities.