Gender Norms in Vector Control Programmes – from Africa to Brazil

Clare Wenham of the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom and colleagues will study whether considering gender in the design and operation of mosquito-control programs can help them to sustainably eliminate vector-borne diseases such as Zika. Brazil has eliminated disease-causing mosquitoes several times, but they keep returning. Data from Africa have shown that malaria control programs purposefully involving women have longer-lasting effects, which may translate to other countries and for other diseases. To test this, they will analyze how women impact vector control programs, as well as how they are specifically affected by them, by conducting fieldwork, including interviewing local community health workers and vector control agents, and analyzing existing data. This evidence will be used to produce a gender-mainstreamed vector control policy for piloting to test whether gender is a valuable determinant of the success of disease-control programs.