Seeking answers for why more men die of Covid-19

Men comprise about 76% of those dying from Covid-19 in Malaysia.

PETALING JAYA: More than three-quarter of those who died of Covid-19 in Malaysia are men, who form a similar proportion observed across the world.

Data released by the health ministry shows that 58 Malaysian men have died of the disease so far, comprising 76% of the total 76.

The Malaysian percentage is higher than those reported in Italy (68%), China (64%), Germany and Spain (63%), and Australia and Sweden ( 60%) according to research group Global Health 50/50.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr N. Ganabaskaran told FMT that it was unclear why so many men had died.

Figures for the United States show that more African Americans are likely to die of Covid-19 than Caucasians.

Last month, a study published in the Lancet, a British medical journal, said emerging evidence suggested that the reasons for more male deaths lay in sex-based immunological or gendered differences such as lifestyle habits and prevalence of smoking.

A private specialist, Dr Kuljit Singh, told FMT that “generally speaking, women are much more resilient to any kind of communicable or non-communicable diseases than men.”

A Malaysian morbidity survey in 2015 showed that Malaysian men were particularly vulnerable to diseases due to a combination of unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco use and harmful alcohol consumption.

“More than 60% of men are either overweight or obese, a third have hypertension and almost 20% have diabetes,” said Azrul Mohd Khalib, chief executive of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy.

“It is a frightening combination which makes men particularly vulnerable to Covid-19. They have an increased risk of developing severe complications due to Covid-19 infection,” he added.

Azrul said that Malaysia’s high mortality rate for Covid-19 among men was very likely linked to the men having at least one chronic disease or non-communicable disease – such as diabetes – while a third of them had three.

Azrul said men were less likely to seek medical attention until late in their illness. “By the time they are hospitalised, the patient either needs intensive care or ventilator support. All of these factors are very likely to have contributed to men forming most of the fatalities in Malaysia,” he said.

Kuljit said women generally have a longer life span than men, and numerous international studies have proven that women have better hygiene.

A study in the US showed that 15% of men there did not wash their hands after leaving the toilet, compared with 7% of women.

When they did wash their hands, only 50% of men used soap, compared with 78% of women.

“The most important reason that people are dying of Covid-19 is because it is not being detected early enough, regardless whether they are men or women,” said Kuljit.

Around 110,000 people have died of Covid-19, which has spread to 213 countries and infected more than 1.8 million people, according to the World Health Organisation. - FMT