Hospitals urged to bridge gap in women’s healthcare

Better investment in women’s health could boost the global economy by $1t annually by 2040.

Hospitals should close the widening healthcare gap in women, who face delayed treatments and higher misdiagnosis rates that limit their well-being and economic participation, according to analysts.

While women are more likely to seek healthcare, they spend a quarter more of their lives in poor health, Shyam Bishen, head of health and healthcare at the World Economic Forum (WEF), told Healthcare Asia.

“Women often receive less evidence-based care for the same conditions as men, leading to delays, added costs, and stress,” he said. “Hospitals must be well-equipped to diagnose and treat often overlooked conditions.”

Addressing this issue could give each woman seven more healthy days a year, adding up to over 500 days in a lifetime. “Improving their health can help them participate in the workforce more actively.”

Better investment in women’s health could also boost the global economy by $1t annually by 2040, according to a WEF-McKinsey & Company report in January.

Focusing solely on conditions like coronary heart disease, women-specific cancers, maternal hypertensive disorders, and severe bleeding after giving birth could add about $400b to annual GDP, it added.

Bishen said hospitals should invest in sex-specific training programmes to ensure equal healthcare delivery. “Too often, women seeking care are not taken seriously due to a lack of properly trained professionals.”

Bishen, a former assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, noted that Scandinavian nations like Sweden and Denmark have advanced equitable healthcare models. “These countries could serve as lighthouses or role models for others to learn from.”

Asia-Pacific countries like Australia, Singapore, Japan, China, and South Korea are also positioned to improve women’s health, said Shin Thant Aung, director at the Thai office of Asia-focused professional consulting firm YCP Solidiance.

“Nations with advanced medical research capabilities and digital health adoption are well-positioned to lead in femtech,” he said in a Microsoft Teams interview. “For instance, Singapore offers regulatory incentives and funding for femtech startups and pharmaceutical research and development.”

Developments in precision medicine could help improve the women’s health gap. “Advances in genomics and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven diagnostics can enable personalised treatment for conditions like breast cancer, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular diseases.”

Governments can also play a key role in boosting women’s health, said Jin Wang, McKinsey’s senior partner and healthcare expert in Shenzhen, China. “Governments can mandate the collection and reporting of sex-disaggregated data,” she said in a Zoom interview.

She noted that in clinical trials, only 5% of published reports include separate data for men and women.

The lack of female representation in clinical trials could be attributed to gender bias and stereotyping, Bishen said. “Male-dominated environments in clinical research often overlook or undervalue women's contributions.”

“[Women] frequently face implicit biases that question their competence and authority, which can hinder their ability to lead teams, secure funding, and gain recognition in the field,” he added.

Wang cited deeply rooted cultural and social stigmas surrounding women's health issues, adding that governments and the private sector could help close the gap through policies, campaigns, education, and investments.

“Addressing these hurdles requires international collaboration to develop global standards,” she said. “Capacity building, including providing resources and training for data collection, is also essential.”