Gender and the burden of disease in ten Asian countries: An exploratory analysis

This article explores critically the assumption that the burden of disease remains heavier for women than for men. The impact of gender on health is better understood when the burden of disease is analysed in terms of its two dimensions, the domestic and the public. This dual approach reveals that, concerning the public burden of disease, morbidity and mortality trends are becoming similar for men and women while, with the domestic burden of disease, gender shows that differences seem to persist in men and women’s roles within the family, particularly involving illness prevention and management at home. This argument is explored in this paper through two types of evidence: to investigate the domestic burden of disease, reference is made to findings from studies on gender roles in the family; and the public burden of disease is explored using the World Health Organization’s latest figures on mortality and morbidity. The domestic and public dimensions of the burden of disease are discussed in the context of ten Asian countries at different stages of socio-economic development (Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia).