Poverty, productive safety nets, TB prevention and agency: some early results from the slums of Lima

Event organized by Poverty, Gender, and Equity Group, Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank (LCSSP)  
January 18, 2012

Presenter:  Dr. Carlton Evans, Innovation For Health and Development (IFHAD)
Chair:  Renos Vakis, LCSPP

TB is a disease of poverty and marginalization. Specifically, TB principally affects the poorest people and communities, causes economic hardship and stigma and control efforts are hampered by poverty and inequality. Despite TB being both a marker for and a cause of deprivation, almost all TB control resources are spent on biomedical interventions such as laboratories and medicines, not development. The Innovative Socio-economic Interventions Against Tuberculosis (ISIAT) project is evaluating the capacity for anti-poverty schemes to strengthen TB control in Peruvian shantytowns (via informational and income generation activities). This paper, which is part of ongoing collaboration between the World Bank and IFHAD, the local implementing NGO in Peru, provides early results on the impact of the intervention on (proxies of) agency as is defined in the latest WDR on Gender and equitable access to care.

Presentation:  A study of obstacles and opportunities for gender equity in TB control

Paper:  
Gender related factors influencing tuberculosis control in shantytowns: a qualitative study

Abstract:  There is evidence that female gender is associated with reduced likelihood of tuberculosis diagnosis and successful treatment.  This study aimed to characterize gender-related barriers to tuberculosis control in Peruvian shanytowns. The study found that the tuberculosis program was perceived not to be gender discriminatory and provided equal tuberculosis diagnostic and treatment care to men and women.  The greatest opportunities for improving women's access to tuberculosis care appear to be in improving social, political and economic structures, more than tuberculosis program modification. 

Website:  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/381

Contact:   Karem Nathalia Edwards de Izquierdo
kedwards@worldbank.org