Women’s healthcare: Closing the gender gap
Women spend an extra 25% of their lifetime in poor health compared with men, according to a 2024 report by the McKinsey Health Institute.1 This disparity, known as the women’s health gap, occurs because women are disadvantaged across medical research, data, healthcare and investment.1 The women’s health gap is a moral injustice causing unnecessary suffering; it is also a major capitalist oversight that if ended, could generate an enormous – $1 trillion – annual boost to the economy by 2040.1
Here, we highlight two areas where women are underserved in healthcare and discuss how the medical industry can help close the gap – to end the injustice and reap the reward.
1. Rebalancing research and data
Female-specific disease pathology and treatment response data are underreported, creating a data gap that not only misrepresents disease in female populations, but has serious safety implications for new treatments. Where sex-specific data is available from disease intervention studies, women are more commonly found to be disadvantaged, due to lower effectiveness or access, than men.1Furthermore, women are more likely to report adverse events than men.1 Although current US and EU clinical trial guidelines encourage the inclusion of females and the analysis of sex-based subgroups, greater, systemic change is needed to correct the effectiveness gap in women’s health.
Governments worldwide have begun driving initiatives to further understanding of women’s health. In 2022, the UK government launched its first-ever Women’s Health Strategy for England, a 10-year plan supporting women’s health research and information access.2 Many pharmaceutical and med tech companies are supporting these efforts by targeting women’s health conditions in their asset development pipelines; investing research in sex-specific conditions (e.g. endometriosis, menopause and maternal complications) and conditions that affect women with higher prevalence and/or burden (e.g. cardiovascular disease and breast cancer).3,4
2. Improving diagnosis and access
A paradox exists where women are more likely than men to seek healthcare services, yet are less likely to receive successful treatment. The 2021 UK ‘Women’s Health – Let’s talk about it’ survey found that 84% of women had experienced instances when they were not listened to by healthcare professionals. Women frequently reported their symptoms being dismissed and having to persistently advocate for themselves to secure a diagnosis.5
There is a need to raise awareness of how women’s health conditions manifest and to improve diagnostic services accordingly. The medical industry can help meet this need and aid faster treatment for women by sponsoring educational programmes for both healthcare professionals and patients.
Investing in women’s health benefits everyone
The concerted efforts of all stakeholders, including the medical industry and governments, to close the women’s health gap will benefit all society. Improving women’s healthcare will enable more people to lead healthier and happier lives and provide an enormous economic boost. Investing in women’s healthcare is a win–win.
References
- World Economic Forum. Closing the women’s health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies. January 2024. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/closing-the-womens-health-gap-a-1-trillion-dollar-opportunity-to-improve-lives-and-economies [Accessed 27 May 2025].
- Department of Health & Social Care. Women’s health strategy for England. August 2022. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6308e552e90e0729e63d39cb/Womens-Health-Strategy-England-web-accessible.pdf [Accessed 27 May 2025].
- Mohamed K. 10 pharmaceutical companies advancing women’s health through targeted drug development. October 2024. Available at: https://www.womenofwearables.com/blogwrite/10-pharmaceutical-companies-advancing-womens-health-through-targeted-drug-development [Accessed 27/05/2025].
- Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. First all-female TAVI trial shows excellent outcomes for women receiving Edwards valves. August 2024. Available at: https://www.edwards.com/gb/newsroom/news/2024-08-31-first-all-female-tavi-trial-shows-excellent-outcom-ca7519e [Accessed 29 May 25].
- Department of Health & Social Care. Results of the ‘Women’s health – let’s talk about it’ survey. April 2022. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/womens-health-strategy-call-for-evidence/outcome/3fa4a313-f7a5-429a-b68d-0eb0be15e696 [Accessed 27 May 2025].
