What healthcare companies can do for equity
The XProject, the Equity 2030 Alliance, and the Women-Centric Cancer Care approach
Female leadership in healthcare can accelerate changes towards equity. Here’s an example: as a healthcare company, Roche has a long-standing history in women’s health, pioneering diagnostics and treatments for conditions that primarily address women. However, that was not all. The company recognised the systemic blindness to the experiences and needs of women and decided to act. Teresa Graham, CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, was one of the driving forces for the XProject <www.roche.com/xproject>, an ongoing initiative aiming to close the gaps in women’s health through partnerships, funding, and action to create better health outcomes for everyone.
The ‘X’ in XProject represents the female chromosome that has historically been overlooked. The project has grown into several initiatives spanning health, technology, and financing. One of the actions is the #MyStoryForChange campaign. Since its launch in early 2023, over 650 women from around the world have shared stories about their healthcare experiences, revealing the stark knowledge gaps in women’s health as well as the discrimination and stigma that women often face.
To address this critical issue, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched the Equity 2030 Alliance <www.unfpa.org/equity-2030-alliance>, a pioneering global initiative aimed at achieving gender equity in science, technology and financing by 2030. Leaders from the private sector, academia and government are joining efforts to advance gender-inclusive solutions in health science and technology, as well as ensuring adequate financing of women-centric solutions and research.
The living testimonials from women of the #MyStoryforChange campaign were also vital in understanding why women-centric approaches to cancer care are so important. According to the Lancet Commission on Women, Power and Cancer [8], cancer leads to premature death of 2.3 million women every year. A diverse group of stakeholders convened at the FemTechnology Summit and published a discussion paper [9], advocating the immediate need for Women-Centric Cancer Care (WCCC), which includes better access to screening, early detection, and treatment, and is vital to hopefully avert all of those deaths.
