Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies

https://www.weforum.org/publications/closing-the-women-s-health-gap-a-1-trillion-opportunity-to-improve-lives-and-economies/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=290577490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ZxJcPZJ8bMB91bHB4c5tcjHVljFN8Wi9bHu9o3qA3sdFkcYvlZA5NZjxyhht11IN5Qo3HhwFqcZqADl6yFwljYqbX_Q&utm_content=290577490&utm_source=hs_email Women pay a price in poorer health, report says Women spend 25% more of their lives — an average of nine years — in poor health than men, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum. Around 5% of women's health gap concerns reproductive health, the report estimates, but only 2% of the global investment in medical research is directed toward improving it, STAT's Annalisa Merelli tells us. The report also notes that there are systemic problems even in areas where research is being conducted. Trials focus disproportionately on men, leading to 65% of interventions — such as asthma inhalers — being less effective for women than men. Plus, women have a harder time accessing treatment. Diagnosing women with conditions like cancer or diabetes can take, on average, years longer than men, and specifically female issues such as endometriosis can take a decade to be identified. These issues have a cost, and not for women alone: The WEF estimates that closing the gender gap, thus allowing women to more fully engage in the workforce, could increase the global GDP by $1 trillion by 2040.