Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious airborne disease that attacks the lungs of the person it infects. Statistically, more men contract TB around the world, but health experts in developing countries argue that the disease's social impacts on women affect far more than their physical health.

In countries where TB prevalence is high, gender inequality is also often high, according to Amrita Daftary, assistant professor in the department of epidemiology, biostatistics, and occupational health at McGill University.

Unlike some diseases of poverty, TB doesn’t target women specifically.

“If you were to just go by the numbers, it doesn’t look like women are in any … particularly bad shape when to comes to TB, compared to men,” Daftary told Global Citizen. “But the aftermath, the consequences in men and women — particularly the social consequences — can be quite different.”

Women with TB face stigma in countries around the world. In India, for example, married women are sometimes divorced for testing positive for TB, or else beaten or isolated. Single girls or women often lose prospects for marriage.

The question of addressing gender in TB diagnosis and treatment delivery is part of a much larger issue when it comes to global health.

A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted social and economic factors that impact women’s ability to lead in global health, such as stereotypes, discrimination, racism, classism and power imbalances. The report found that the lack of women in leadership roles didn’t just impact women’s careers and further an existing pay gap, but it also impacts the delivery of health services and medical research, which experts say need to be different for men and women.

Read the full article about gender inequality and Tuberculosis by Jackie Marchildon at Global Citizen.