Women in healthcare: Reshaping the sector for improved health across society

It’s time to prioritise women’s health within healthcare systems. Not only is it crucial for improving overall health outcomes, but it will also contribute to the economic growth of societies. According to the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) report, ^[1] “addressing the women’s health gap could add years to life and life to years – and potentially boost the global economy by $1 trillion annually by 2040”.

Women play a pivotal role in society and act as primary decision-makers for the health and well-being of their families. Additionally, research indicates that the health of a mother has a significant impact on the health of future generations, making women’s health an indispensable aspect of overall community health.

Unfortunately, the health system design fails to provide women with adequate health services across the care continuum. Women live longer than men, but they also spend 25% more of their lives in debilitating health. The aforementioned WEF report states that a woman will spend an average of nine years in poor health, affecting her ability to be present and/or productive at home, at work, and in the community, and reducing her earning potential. Furthermore, research by the NCD Alliance highlights that two out of every three women die from a Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) ^[2], due to gender norms, inequalities, and other intersecting determinants that make women particularly vulnerable to NCDs, especially in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Overcoming hurdles: Key challenges to address
The gender gap in health persists due to systemic, knowledge, and cultural barriers. For example:

• In the Arab world, women face many challenges when it comes to their representation in the healthcare sector, both as professionals and as patients.
• Across the world, without exception, women perform 76% of unpaid care work ^[3]. When a woman takes care of her family when someone is sick, she often forgets to take care of herself.
• For too long, women have been overlooked by healthcare systems that see men as the default. Research into women’s health has been chronically underfunded, leaving women facing inequities in diagnosis, treatment, and access to healthcare. Excluding women from clinical trials has resulted in delayed diagnostics for women ^[4] – on average by four years longer than for men in more than 700 diseases. For every one woman diagnosed with a women’s health-related condition, roughly four go undiagnosed.
• Women have been found to be 50 per cent more likely than men to be misdiagnosed following a heart attack ^[5] and more likely than men to die from heart attacks.
• Only 1 per cent ^[6] of the global healthcare research and innovation funds are invested in female-specific conditions beyond oncology.

Addressing these barriers is necessary to ensure that women receive the care and attention they need to lead healthy lives.

Changing the perspective
A healthier and more equitable society can only be achieved by empowering women to prioritise their own health, and health systems to prioritise it as well. In that sense, promoting the advancement of women’s equal access and participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields is the first step. Female scientists can add their gender perspective by developing biomedical inventions that address women’s health conditions. A study analyzing over 440,000 medical patents filed between 1976 and 2010 found that biotech inventions created by women were up to 35% more likely to benefit women’s health compared to those created by men. It is concerning to note that globally, only one-third of scientific researchers are women ^[7].

The second step is equally important: Empowering women in the health sector and encouraging gender diversity. The WEF report suggests that leaders tend to initiate changes in the workplace based on their own experiences, knowledge, or vision. Hence, having more women in senior leadership roles could enable them to advocate for policies that support women’s health and play a significant role in closing the gender gap in health.

As a woman in STEM and as the first woman to lead a major pharmaceutical company’s Middle Eastern region, I can attest to the need for progress in terms of inclusion. Working in healthcare, I witnessed firsthand the challenges and biases we face in all aspects of our health. Women in healthcare in the Arab world have come a long way and may have a long journey ahead of them. A woman’s health outcomes can depend on a variety of factors, including her mental health, her family relationships, her place in society, and the prejudices she must overcome both inside and outside of the healthcare system.

The impact of women leading healthcare changes
Fortunately, my role in a company like Roche, which is actively closing gender gaps, gives me the opportunity to work towards fostering change. For instance, in 2022, we signed the Middle East Inclusion & Diversity Council Charter, allowing us to join a network of like-minded organizations that are accelerating towards achieving gender balance.

Additionally, we are committed to creating opportunities for the next generation of healthcare leaders in the Middle East, and we are bringing more diverse voices to help truly represent the communities we serve. One example is our programme to promote gender equality and inclusive leadership in the Middle East. Developed in partnership with the internationally recognized teaching institution IE University, the Roche-IE Inclusive Leadership Program (RISE) has included 22 leaders in the initial cohort. We are proud to have a diverse and inclusive workplace in our region, where 40% of our collaborators are female.

As shown, prioritising women’s health is not only an ethical imperative but also a strategic one. By amplifying women’s voices and advancing gender-inclusive solutions in health, technology, and financing, we can provide better outcomes for the entire society.

The addition of a female perspective to healthcare has proven beneficial with
new alliances and projects underway. If this trend continues, significant progress can be expected in this field. (See: “What healthcare companies can do for equity”) To accomplish this, all healthcare system stakeholders must work together to bridge the gaps that contribute to the gender disparity in health. Let’s collaborate and make it a reality!

References:

1. https://www.weforum.org/publications/closing-the-women-s-health-gap-a-1-trillion-opportunity-to-improve-lives-and-economies/
2. https://ncdalliance.org/why-ncds/ncds-and-sustainable-development/women-and-ncds
3. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—dcomm/—publ/documents/publication/wcms_633166.pdf
4. https://www.unfpa.org/equity-2030-alliance
5. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/unlocking-opportunities-in-womens-healthcare
6. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/unlocking-opportunities-in-womens-healthcare
7. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanwpc/article/PIIS2666-6065(24)00033-6/fulltext
8. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)01701-4/fulltext
9. https://femtechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/WCCC-Discussion-Paper.pdf