Health Check on Women’s Health

Women’s health is getting some much-needed attention lately. The national Women’s Health Strategy was launched in 2020.  The Victorian Government announced its inquiry into women’s pain in January this year.  Sexual and reproductive health was a priority in both state and federal budgets and, of course, most of us will have seen the advertising campaign for a well-known pain relief medication that speaks to the gender pain gap. 

The attention is good, its needed, it’s about time.

It’s interesting though, the things that come to mind when we hear the term women’s health. In my experience, very often people focus immediately on all things periods, babies and menopause. This can lead to extreme reactions including squeamishness and embarrassment all the way through to disdain and eye-rolling dismissal. It’s a stark reminder that, in some ways, we haven’t travelled all that far from the ancient Greek theories of wandering wombs and hysteria. Theories that set the tone for understanding – or failing to understand – women’s health for, quite literally, centuries.

Women’s health is, of course, so much more than that. 

What is women’s health 

Women’s health and wellbeing refers to the physical, mental, and social-emotional wellness of women and their overall quality of life, from birth through old age. It is shaped by a woman’s freedom to have autonomy over her body, to have personal choice as well as access to quality healthcare, food, education and employment without fear of gender-based discrimination.

Women’s health can be impacted by biological and genetic factors, age, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and geography. Personal choice, such as diet, activity levels and drug and alcohol use, also plays a part. Women’s health is, however, also significantly impacted by social determinants including education status, employment and work conditions, economic security, accessibility of services and housing security. And, as we have seen all too much this year, violence can have catastrophic impacts on women’s health. In fact, violence is the biggest preventable risk factor leading to illness, disability and death for women aged 25-44 years.

Why look at women’s health separately?

At all stages of life, women are at greater risk of ill health than men. Globally a higher proportion of women and girls experience chronic pain; however, women are less likely to receive treatment. Aglobal gender health gap study has shown that while women tend to have a longer life expectancy than men, they spend more years of their life in poor health. Non-fatal conditions that cause illness and disability, such as musculoskeletal problems, mental health issues and headache disorders for example, particularly affect women. The health differences between women and men continue to grow with age, leaving women with higher levels of illness and disability throughout their lives.

Illness can have a knock-on effect, impacting a woman’s ability to participate in work and social activity and, in turn, impacting her financial security and mental health and wellbeing.  It harms the individual and their family and it adds to the burden on the health system.

The gender divide

According to theWorld Health Organisation, the sociocultural factors preventing women and girls (globally) from getting the best possible level of health include: 

• unequal power relationships between men and women
• social norms that decrease education and paid employment opportunities
• an exclusive focus on women’s reproductive roles and
• potential or actual experience of physical, sexual and emotional violence.

I suppose its unsurprising that inequity is at the heart of women’s experience in terms of health. A growing body of evidence suggests that women disproportionately experience delayed diagnosis, overprescribing, and a failure to properly investigate symptoms. As an example, symptoms of a heart attack are less likely to be recognised in women than in men and women are less likely to receive appropriate treatment for heart disease.

Add to this the fact that gender bias is common in health settings, with many women reporting that they feel they are dismissed, their illness minimised or that they are not believed when they describe symptoms to their doctors.  This can lead to a denial of pain and therefore, lack of pain relief and associated treatment for women. This occurs for multiple health conditions, including cardiovascular, neurological, reproductive, and autoimmune conditions. 

Many of us have heard that, while women are at higher risk of injury and death in car accidents, until very recently (2022), crash test dummies were predominantly based on male bodies. In much the same way, medical research and in turn medical training, has historically focussed on male physiology.

According toWomen’s Health Victoria,“women have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials for new drugs, treatments and devices in Australia and around the world. In instances where women have been present in trials, the influence of sex and gender is often not analysed and reported. The resultant lack of evidence around women’s experiences in clinical trials may have withheld effective treatment and exposed women to harmful side effects.” 

Women’s health in a rural setting 

According to the Australian Government’s Institute of Health and Welfare, approximately 7 million people (28% of the population) live in rural and remote locations. People (not just women) living in rural and remote areas have higher rates of hospitalisation, deaths and injury, and poorer access to primary health care services. 

In our beautiful regional and rural communities across the Barwon South West, as women we get the double whammy – and that multiplies further if, for example, you happen to live with a disability, are gender diverse, or a First Nations person.

The challenge for our health system is to design, implement and evaluate sex- and gender-informed ways of diagnosing, preventing and treating health conditions. Until they succeed in closing the current gender gap, our awareness of the issues can help us to look after ourselves. This is why it’s good, and needed, and about time that women’s health is getting some attention. I hope it stays a hot topic until all the squeamishness, embarrassment and disdain are eliminated.  We must all be confident enough to advocate for our own health. Women represent 51% of our population and women’s health cannot be considered an exception or an add on.