PAHO Director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne says COVID-19 has had a devastating health, social and economic impact on women in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Etienne made the disclosure at her weekly press briefing.
There, she noted that women make up 70% of the health workforce across the region.
And the PAHO Director explained that they are bearing much of the burden of the COVID response.
“Despite all they’re doing on the front lines, it’s women who are feeling the economic impact of this virus the hardest,” Etienne asserted.
“In our Region, women are more likely than men to live in poverty,” she observed.
But she also said women are more likely than men to take on unpaid work, and to have lost their job during the pandemic’s first months.
“Right now, many Latin American women are facing the impossible choice between earning a paycheck and protecting their health,” the PAHO official stated.
And she declared that for too many, health care remains out of reach.
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