A Global Perspective on Women’s Health

A global perspective on women’s health: is it really cause for celebration?

The World Economic Forum’s panel discussion, ‘A Seat at the table and a Hand in the Menu: Women’s Health as the Foundation of Rights, Equality and Empowerment for All’ on 6 March was a bit of a reality check. Global health parity is clearly some way off. The panel, convened by the Global Alliance for Women’s Health, was comprised of women who work both in health education at grassroots level, and advocacy,  as well as  developing strategic relationships with  pharmaceutical companies, charities, private business and government.  

In tune with the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, the panel called for action to reduce the gender health gap.  The proposed solutions were underpinned by data indicating that diversity, inclusivity, sustainability, business, and peace initiatives are all enhanced when there is significant female representation and leadership. Women’s and girls’ health was presented as a social, political and economic issue: access to good healthcare leads to healthy families and increased global prosperity. It was highlighted that progress made at the community level leads to positive change at the national level, and then spreads to the entire region, eventually being reflected in global improvements in women’s health. The meeting heard that access to quality health care empowers women to participate in education, the health workforce and society, in turn enabling them to contribute to economic production. 

The Global Alliance for Women’s Health unanimously emphasized  that women have to be engaged in the discussions of their own needs, and highlighted that gender equality cannot be achieved without the creation of pathways for leadership and the provision of female mentorship to the next generation of women.  The value of a multi-sectorial approach was exemplified by Kearney Global Management Consultancy’s collaboration with global biopharmaceutical companies to create commercial strategies which have enhanced  patient outcomes.  At the microlevel, specific projects working with rural communities, for example, the fisherwomen and women farmers in Nigeria, have also been contributed to health improvements. 

Opportunities for intervention are plentiful, but the challenges are proving tough. The audience were informed that 2025 has not started well: women continue to   be ‘left behind’ and undermined. The COVID pandemic has reinforced gender disparity, particularly in low- and middle- income countries. In patriarchal societies, violence against women remains at high levels whilst the focus on their needs is rarely, if ever, prioritized. Political instability exacerbates an already fragile situation with women’s reproductive health and diseases being one of the first victims of conflict. Perhaps worse still, the panel agreed that there is a fundamental lack of understanding about women’s health, which results in minimal investment into specific women’s diseases (about 1% of the global health budget), and near-zero   accountability. 

It should not be thought that the West is inured from these entrenched obstacles. Structural and cultural biases in the health workforce are reflected  all-round the globe in unequal pay, biases in promotion pathways, and unpaid care giving. Policy decisions in politics, including the health care sector continue to be made largely by men which results in women’s needs often being overlooked or minimized; medical school curricula have not been updated to consider women’s biology. Critically, clinical trials are designed by men for men, with women being treated as ‘little men.’ Until there is an increase in women’s representation and leadership in healthcare, women’s  specific health needs continue to be largely ignored. In the healthcare sector, women make up around 70% of the workforce but only occupy 25% of leadership roles.

The fallout is significant. First, women themselves do not feel engaged, which hinders widespread adoption of healthy behaviours on the ground. Secondly, the development of new treatments for women and targeted medications is inhibited, in part by the lack of digital technology. Thirdly, there is a lack of incentives for healthcare workers to implement new strategies. Fourthly, there is no pressure on corporations to modify the conditions in which their female employees work. 

By the end of the session, my conviction that IWD 2025 was a cause for celebration, at least in terms of women’s health, was fading. I don’t think it helped that one panelist rounded off her contribution with the comment that  women need to recruit male champions to the cause – particularly as the rest of the discussion had pointed the finger at men’s responsibility for the current disparity. Maybe I was just getting dispirited by this stage in the conversation.

In other news, it, it has been a mixed week for women’s health in the UK. Whilst we celebrate that for the first time, there are more women doctors than male doctors, the week also saw the shock resignation of Amanda Pritchard, the first woman Chief Executive of the NHS. One fewer senior woman at the  Health Table. 

Happy International Women’s Day, 2025!

Dr. Nikki Scheiner
March 2025