At the Studio, we have always worked in the women’s health space. From creating Rock My Menopause to commercialising a wealth of women’s health brands. This International Women’s Day, we’ve put the theme accelerate action, under the healthcare lens. We’ve all heard of the gender pay gap, but what about the gender health gap?

Women live on average for longer than men but spend more of their life in poor health, often limiting their ability to work and participate in day-to-day activities¹. This is the gender health gap and closing it benefits not only women, but society as a whole.

The UK is thought to have the largest female health gap among G20 countries, and the 12th largest globally, with millions of women falling through it every year². But why? Is it a lack of education for women, knowing when to seek healthcare services? Is it bias within the healthcare system itself and how women are listened to and diagnosed? Or does it root down to research or gaps in knowledge that sit with clinicians?

Whatever the drivers, to close the gap we need awareness. By pushing the conversation around the gender health gap, we hope it will encourage others to make small steps to move from observers to changemakers and close the gap once and for all, championing equality.

It all starts with a diagnosis

As with everything, the gender health gap is not black and white. Some diseases are more prevalent in men or women, some conditions only apply to women or men, so we must look at what we can compare.

So, let’s pick cardiovascular care.

Did you know that women with coronary artery blockages are 59% more likely to be misdiagnosed than men, contributing to double the mortality rate within 30 days of a heart attack³?

Add to this, women are twice as likely to die of coronary heart disease in the UK than breast cancer, and even survival rates post-heart attack lag significantly⁴.

So when women are compared with men on the same health concern, they come off worse. But comparable diseases aside, what about women’s only conditions? These can take months, if not years to diagnose.

Endometriosis can take an average of eight years and 10 months to diagnose (which has increased since covid). During this time symptoms may worsen, access to relevant treatments is delayed and there’s a risk of permanent organ damage and an impact on fertility⁵.

It’s no surprise then that other female-centric conditions remain under-researched compared to male focused issues.

For example, erectile dysfunction is studied in research five times more often than PMS, even though PMS affects 90% of women⁶.

Research, research, research

We have to be clear, it’s not the fault of our doctors, it’s historic, systemic, cultural.

Historically, clinical trials have always prioritised male subjects.

Concerns about pregnancy and foetal safety, assumptions that the male body was ‘standard’, concern around the impact of hormonal variability, medical patriarchy and gender bias alongside a lack of regulatory requirements put women’s health on the back foot.

It wasn’t until 1993 that the FDA reversed the ban on including women in early-phase clinical trials⁷ so does that mean all the medical research prior to ‘93 is void?

Without the inclusion of women in clinical trials, we do not have accurate data on the efficacy or potential side effects a treatment might have on women.

And when only 2% of medical research funding is spent on pregnancy, childbirth and female reproductive health, despite one in three women reporting reproductive or gynaecological health problems⁸ we must ask why?

It boils down to the risks. Research sponsors and insurers face higher financial and reputational risks when including pregnancy in trials, which is understandable – there’s a lot to be learnt from the impact of thalidomide in the 50s and 60s.

So the gender health gap grows.

But it’s not just clinical trials. The UK’s maternal mortality rate is the highest in 20 years⁹ with black women four times more likely to die during pregnancy. Could this be avoided with more investment in women’s health?

Closing the gaps

Closing the gender health gap can also contribute to closing the gender pay gap. Women’s health spills out of healthcare affecting the UK economy with time off work or women quitting due to menopause, costing £10bn annually and painful periods leading to £531m in sick days¹⁰.

A report from the NHS Confederation has shown than an extra £1 invested in obstetrics and gynaecology services per woman in England could generate an estimated £319m return to the economy¹¹.

Proving that investment in getting women the help and support they need to tackle their health could turn the needle in closing the gender health gap and the gender pay gap by keeping women in work with more career opportunities and exposure. Health and economy go hand in hand.

But we do need to do better for the women working in the NHS, where 77% of female NHS staff hold only 25% of senior roles¹² and after adjusting for contracted hours, female GPs earn on average 15.3% less, and female clinical academics 11.9% less than men¹³.

How do we accelerate action?

Everyone has a part to play in closing the gender health gap.

• Improve research diversity: Prioritising female participation in clinical trials and fund studies on women-specific conditions.
• Invest more in education to HCPs around women’s health issues, or where there are knowledge gaps within other diseases the disproportionately affect women.
• Address pay equity by looking to close the 12.7% gender pay gap in healthcare and promote women to leadership roles in the NHS.
• Combat stigma and remove biases: Train providers to recognise gender biases in pain management, diagnostics and treatment nuances

What is The Studio doing to accelerate action? As a digital agency comprising over 70% female workforce, we are personally dedicated to transforming healthcare access and communication. Over the next 12 months, we are launching a series of new initiatives designed to address these gaps in meaningful ways. Follow our journey as we roll out these initiatives and help empower women through tailored digital resources and support.

We’re looking for collaborators and partners to help make this happen, so please reach out if you’re interested, we’d love a chat. Together, we can close the gender health gap and ensure that women’s health is no longer side-lined, but prioritised.

Sources:
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-womens-health-strategy-for-england-to-tackle-gender-health-gap
2. https://www.equipsme.com/blog/the-gender-health-gap-and-what-to-do-if-youve-fallen-in/
3. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/women/misdiagnosis-of-heart-attacks-in-women
4. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/womens-health-outcomes-is-there-a-gender-gap/
5. https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/diagnosis-report
6. https://www.thewomensorganisation.org.uk/the-gender-health-gap-shocking-statistics-you-need-to-know/
7. https://www.appliedclinicaltrialsonline.com/view/gender-bias-in-the-clinical-evaluation-of-drugs
8. https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/womens-health-massively-underfunded-and-one-biggest-missed-opportunities-health
9. https://www.thewomensorganisation.org.uk/the-gender-health-gap-shocking-statistics-you-need-to-know/
10. https://www.thewomensorganisation.org.uk/the-gender-health-gap-shocking-statistics-you-need-to-know/
11. https://www.nhsconfed.org/news/economic-case-investing-womens-health-services-revealed#:~:text=policy%20at%20the%20NHS%20Confederation%20said:%20%E2%80%9CThis,merely%20a%20matter%20of%20improving%20health%20outcomes
12. https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/events/item/2024/03/08/default-calendar/international-women-s-day-2024
13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8966920/#b3