11 June 2007
Kampala — Women are the strong race, so they say. Indeed, in most countries in the world women on average live longer than men. In Australia, women have a life expectancy of 83 years, as opposed to 78 for men. In the UK too, women can expect to live five years longer than men: 81 versus 76.
However, a reverse trend is emerging in Sub-Saharan Africa. In countries like Kenya, Zambia, Botswana and Malawi, men have overtaken women in life expectancy. A Kenyan man can now expect to clock 48.5 years, as opposed to 46.5 for a Kenyan woman. In Botswana, life expectancy has dropped to 34.8 years for women, compared to 34.9 for men.
The UN attributes this trend to HIV/Aids, which is affecting women more than men in Africa. 'Women now account for 57% of HIV infections in the region, and young African women aged 15 to 24 are now three times more likely to become infected than men", the 2006 Human Development Report states.
While falling life expectancy has been one of the most visible impacts of HIV/Aids, less visible has been the feminisation of the disease and the consequences for gender equity, the UN argue.
The Aids scourge is shaping the demographic structure of many African countries, particularly in Southern Africa.
"On current trends average life expectancy in Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland will be two years less for women than for men by 2005-2010, compared with seven years more in 1990-1995," states the report.
Women are more likely to contract the infection than men for several reasons, the study says. Unequal power relationships disadvantage women and young girls because they have less control and less say over sex. Educational disadvantage is another factor. "Because school is an important site for education on HIV/Aids, gender disparities in school attendance disadvantage girls."
Access to treatment for men and women differs from country to country. In Ghana, women account for a smaller share of treatment than predicted on the basis of infection rates, but in South Africa and Tanzania they account for a larger share, according to the UN findings.
National governments should put gender issues, such as girl education, high on the agenda, the report concludes. But certain practices like widow inheritance, polygamy and forced marriages might also have to be reviewed if the continent is to stop losing its women at an alarming rate.
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