What does the future of women’s health look like?
Despite the ground-breaking medical, scientific, and technological advancements in the last few decades, women’s health issues have been largely neglected in medical and research institutions. This can be attributed to the deeply rooted sexism within healthcare systems, enabling men to make clinical decisions surrounding women’s health and shape the societal education and awareness (or lack thereof) on conditions affecting women.
The lack of female enrolment in clinical trials has amplified the lack of knowledge surrounding women’s health. In the US, the National Institutes of Health did not require female enrolment in trials until 1993 under the pretext that women’s bodies are ‘complex’. To this day, an overwhelming number of studies heavily recruit men. For many decades, male researchers have written publications based only on male participants. We are strong believers that women’s health matters.
Women's health in all aspects will continue to grow and be of interest to the general public, as well as medical, healthcare, and technology industries. Some developments can already be seen in traditional areas, such as endometriosis, fertility, and contraception, with more funding allocated to the research and implementation of these services. With women having the confidence to advocate for their own health, it is vital that healthcare professionals are equipped to provide the best level of care and attention. We imagine the future of health to be inclusive of women, especially those from marginalised and underrepresented communities.
It is important that healthcare is equally accessible to all females, regardless of race, colour, sexual orientation, location, and socioeconomic background. However, with so many women’s therapy areas left to understand and explore, there is plenty of space for more innovations.