City Research Online

Abstract

Public health interventions often neglect gender disparities. This perspective paper highlights the gendered risks using Rift Valley fever (RVF), a vector-borne zoonotic disease, as a case study, and discuss how gender inequality in RVF disease surveillance and control might impact women’s health.
Most of the literature focuses on RVF exposure in males due to certain occupational roles being male dominated and neglects women’s varied responsibilities in livestock care. RVF-focused studies often lack sex-aggregated data, hindering our understanding of the gendered differences in RVF risk. Social and cultural norms limit women’s autonomy in livestock ownership, vaccination decisions and healthcare access. Therefore, there is a lack of gender-based policy for the prevention and control of RVF.
To tackle the issues of gender inequality in disease surveillance and control, we need to integrate gendered considerations into RVF research design and analysis. This can lead to development of gender-responsive interventions for improved knowledge dissemination and access to veterinary care for women livestock keepers. Intervention programs involving women (such as the We Rear Programme) have led to positive changes in social and cultural norms, resulting in greater access to markets and veterinary care for female farmers.
Gender inequality in RVF disease surveillance compromises women’s health and the health of their livestock. Urgent action is required to bridge the knowledge gaps highlighted in this paper and develop equitable interventions for a One Health approach to the control of RVF.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited
Publisher Keywords:	Rift Valley fever; one health; gender; disease surveillance; epidemiology
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences School of Health & Medical Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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