No pandemic preparedness and research without gender equality

Under-representation of women in research: a status quo that is a scandal

“…It drew a clear and troubling conclusion that decades of hard won gains had been “wiped out,” and it mapped out a shared research agenda for future pandemics and crises, again emphasising the importance of both sex and gender in design and analysis of research (doi:10.1136/bmj.p1213). 5 In other settings we are almost daily reminded of the harms experienced by women in healthcare and from research (doi:10.1136/bmj.p2090 doi:10.1136/bmj.p2078 doi:10.1136/bmj.p2044). 678…”

Invest in youth led efforts for gender equality and pandemic preparedness

“…As a result, these voices often go unheard and are not included in decision making processes related to health. As the BMJ collection on gender equality and pandemic response shows ( www.bmj.com/gender-and-pandemic-response ) , 1 traction is growing for recognising the importance of applying a gender lens within pandemic preparedness research and policy. However, adolescents (12-19 year olds) and youth (under 30s) remain missing within multistakeholder health emergency and disaster committees, from health system preparedness and responses at all levels (global, regional, national, and local), and within the research agenda.…”

“…In times of crisis it is also important to consider who is contributing to health research and who is being left out of clinical trials and author groups. For example, the BMJ collection on gender equality and pandemic response 1 sets out a clear innovative and intentional commitment to foster collaborative and multistakeholder agenda setting, evidence generation, and action. The global collaboration brought together more than 500 stakeholders including researchers, donors, multilateral agencies, and civil society organisations to set priorities and implement a research agenda.…”