BMJ  2004;328:823-826 (3 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7443.823

Education and debate

Role of gender in health disparity: the South Asian context

¹ International Program Division, Population Council, 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York 10017, USA, ² Women's and Children's Center, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

South Asia's girls and women do not have the same life advantage as their Western counterparts. A human rights based approach may help to overcome gender related barriers and improve the wellbeing of men, women, and children.

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Behaviour has an important role in health disparities—for example, young men take greater risks, causing injury and violent death, and men smoke more.¹ In industrialised countries women are born with an advantage; their healthy life expectancy is two years longer and their life expectancy six years longer than those of men.² This advantage is prominent in childhood; girls are more likely to survive the first five years of life than boys.² However, does this female advantage endure in parts of the world where gender discrimination exists? We present the case of South Asia to illustrate the role that gender has on health.

From many perspectives women in South Asia find themselves in subordinate positions to men and are socially, culturally, and economically dependent on them.³ Women are largely excluded from making decisions, have limited access to and control over resources, are restricted in their mobility, and are often under threat . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Senarath, U., Nalika Sepali Gunawardena, (2009). Women's Autonomy in Decision Making for Health Care in South Asia. Asia Pac J Public Health 21: 137-143 [Abstract]  
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