Carlton Evans of the Universidad Peruana-Cayetana-Heredia in Lima, Peru and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine talked with Peter Goodwin about his group's finding—presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting—that women are just as likely to have TB as men: contrary to popular belief. He probes the reasons for this and emphasises the importance of prioritising the position of women in the poor communities where TB is prevalent.