Offline: Sex and power during a pandemic

Abstract

“At the height of the pandemic, women were underrepresented across the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and related subgroups advising cabinet on the coronavirus response.” This conclusion comes from the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for gender equality and women's rights at work, in its latest report, Sex and Power 2022. It's impossible to disagree—at least in the UK. Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance, together with Jonathan Van-Tam and Neil Ferguson, became the very masculine face of Britain's response. The Fawcett Society continues: “It is unsurprising, given the membership of the advisory boards early in the pandemic, that male voices dominated media coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.” They recommend that organisations, such as SAGE, must work harder to achieve equal representation for women, and especially for women of colour. These findings are important and deserve attention. But the reality may also be more complex than the Fawcett Society's report suggests. Indeed, I think a case could be made that COVID-19 was a breakthrough moment for women in the public sphere of science and public health. Kate Bingham was responsible for the UK's vaccine programme. She chaired the UK Vaccine Taskforce and secured millions of doses of multiple vaccines, guaranteeing Britain's successful immunisation roll-out. As Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, June Raine ensured that early findings from vaccine trials were translated into rapid approvals for use. Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green led research to devise one of the world's most successful vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Their book, Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus, became an international bestseller. Beyond vaccines, the UK has been a global leader in SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing. That success owes everything to Sharon Peacock, who heads the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium. Also consider: Anne Johnson, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, which made important contributions to science advice to government; Yvonne Doyle, who, as Director of Health Protection, steered the UK's public health response; Nikki Kanani, Medical Director of Primary Care at NHS England, who supported general practice during the worst pressures of the pandemic; Linda Bauld, Chief Social Policy Adviser to the Scottish Government and prolific media commentator; and Jenny Harries, promoted from Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England to Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency. Angela McLean, Theresa Marteau, and Susan Michie have all had major roles in shaping the work of SAGE. Michie, in particular, has been a prominent public voice, holding the government accountable for its often mistimed decisions. Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, has been a notable public commentator in the pandemic as well as being an adviser to the Scottish Government. Christina Pagel has been a trenchant analyst and critic on Independent SAGE. Zubaida Haque, also a member of Indie SAGE, has drawn attention to the issue of racial inequalities during the pandemic. Nisreen Alwan has been a powerful advocate for taking long COVID more seriously. Trish Greenhalgh has been a go-to voice for evidence-informed public health practice. Clare Gerada, Laura Spinney, and Anjana Ahuja have all been incisive commentators in national media. And Kathryn de Prudhoe and Jo Goodman co-launched the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice. Internationally, Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf chaired the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Soumya Swaminathan and Maria Van Kerkhove have been the public face of WHO. Özlem Türeci co-leads BioNTech, which developed the first mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. Angelique Coetzee provided more reliable evidence about the omicron variant than most mathematical modellers. The Fawcett Society's report rightly calls for urgent action to achieve gender equity in science policy making. Yet it would be an error not to acknowledge and honour the vital contributions that women have made during the pandemic. The UK's experience may not be generalisable to other countries. But, in Britain, COVID-19 has seen a step change in recognition for women in science and science policy. The challenge now is surely to build on that success, beginning in schools and extending to the furthest reaches of government, universities, and the media.