Navigating Women's Health: Challenges, Progress, and Future Directions

While women represent 50% of the global population and in healthcare, 80% of purchasing decisions are made by women. It is remarkable to note that women’s health industry is still nascent and a mere subset in healthcare (1,2).

When we interviewed women across many markets globally, it is a common theme that women feel a pressure to be a “superwoman” – women feel the pressure to manage and juggle across all aspects of their life (home, work, family and friends). Most often, women are more likely to bear the childcare and family care responsibilities. And when it comes to prioritization, they prioritize the needs of their family and children first before themselves neglecting their own health (3,10).

Several publications and books have indicated gender bias in healthcare. Women historically are underrepresented and have been excluded from researches due to the belief that their hormones and bodily changes throughout the menstrual cycle can interfere with the results.

This relative absence of women in in scientific and clinical studies led to lack of knowledge and understanding of women’s health conditions. In the past, there has also been a belief that men and women are basically the same except for the “bikini zone” and most of the time, women’s health is mostly associated with reproduction and fertility (4).

Recent researches have shown that women’s health goes beyond reproduction and fertility. It covers health conditions that affect women disproportionately like how women are 3 times more likely to have mental health problems or migraines than men and on musco-skeletal issues like osteoporosis, this affects more women than men.

There are also health conditions that manifest differently in women than in men. In the case of cardiovascular disease, with previous researches being based largely on male population, the “typical” symptoms being taught are pain the chest and left arm. But for women, with different physiology and risk factors, they may present different symptoms and as such, may then have a risk of misdiagnosis and hence more likely than men to die from heart attacks (2, 16).

Apart from the lack of knowledge on women’s health conditions, there is also a prevalent stigmatization and misunderstanding of female-specific conditions. Things we go through on a monthly basis like menstrual pains or as part of our life stage, menopause, are considered taboo or things women find difficult to talk about.

Women have about 450 menstrual cycles across 35 years of their life and imagine the mental and emotional stress of feeling excluded or not having the access to the right products (5,13). For women between ages 45-55, they may be suffering from menopausal symptoms which may range from hot flushes, irregular periods, low mood and anxiety, depression, poor sleep and these impact their relationships and quality of life. This is true for about 75% of women and yet almost half of the women have not spoken to their doctors and only a quarter obtain treatment (6, 10, 11).

We can see how women are underserved in healthcare. How can we better drive awareness, understanding and how can we better meet the needs of women across their life stages?

The positive news is that there is a rising trend in women’s health and development of products tailored for women. Global women’s health market is projected to grow at CAGR of 4.9% from 2022-2030. In terms of health and beauty supplements for women, it is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% (14).

Recent trends have increased awareness and focus on women’s health (14).

• With more education and de-stigmatization, we see more emphasis on female-specific conditions across life stages whether it’s pre-family, pregnancy, post-partum or menopause).
• Especially with increasing number of working women and women having to constantly juggle multiple things at home and at work – there is more focus on women’s mental health and emotional well-being
• Along with the global trend on naturals, there is also a strong interest in holistic and natural approaches to women’s health
• As there is an acknowledgement of women’s health beyond reproduction and fertility, there is focus on how to address prevalence of chronic diseases for women in Asia
• And lastly, there is more demand for more personalized approaches to women’s healthcare whether in the supplements and nutrients including Femtech to understand and meet the unique needs of women as one size does not fit all.

In summary, we have seen how women while representing 50% of the global population is underserved in healthcare. There is an urgent call to action on how can we better drive awareness and understanding and meet the needs of women across life stages.

References:

1. Delaney Burns, Tara Grabowsky, Emma Kemble and Lucy Perez, “Closing the data gaps in women’s health,” McKinsey Report April 2023.
2. Emma Kemble, Lucy Perez, Valentina Sartori, Gila Tolub and Alice Zheng, “Unlocking opportunities in women’s healthcare,” McKinsey Report, Feb 2022.
3. Internal Haleon Research: Women’s Health research findings (US, RDSI April 2022)
4. Emily Dwass, “Diagnosis Female: How Medical Bias Endangers Women’s Health,” Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Feb 2022
5. Athira Nortajuddin, The ASEAN Post: It’s time to talk about period poverty, 31 January 2020.
6. Head, A., Huggett, C., Chea, P., Suttor, H., Yamakoshi, B. and Hennegan, J., Menstrual Health in East Asia and the Pacific: Regional Progress Review. United Nations Children’s Fund, Burnet Institute and Water Aid, Bangkok, 2023.
7. Alicia Grandey, “Workplace stigma around menopause is real,” Harvard Business Review  20 December 2022.
8. Qiong Li, Jintu Gu, Jianyuan Huang, Pei Zhao and Chenliang Luo, “”They see me as mentally ill”: the stigmatization experiences of Chinese menopausal women in the family,” BMC Women’s Health, (2023): 23: 185.
9. NIH Presentation on Women’s Health (Accessed May 2023)
10. Internal Haleon Presentation: Menopause 2022
11. Internal Haleon Presentation: Why Women and older adults Matter 2022
12. NHS UK Periods and fertility in the menstrual cycle Periods and fertility in the menstrual cycle - NHS (www.nhs.uk) (Accessed May 2023)
13. UNICEF Fast Facts: Nine things you didn’t know about menstruation FAST FACTS: Nine things you didn't know about menstruation (unicef.org)  25 May 2018 (Accessed May 2023)
14. Internal Haleon Report: Women’s Health – Needs, Trends and Competitors Landscape 2023
15. Chavez-MacGregor et al, “Lifetime cumulative number of menstrual cycles and serum sex hormone levels in postmenopausal women,” Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2008 Mar. 108(1) 101-112.
16. Abdullah Al Hamid et al., “Gender Bias in Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases: A Systematic Review,” Cureus, 2024 Feb; 16 (2) e54264.
17. Kwellin Ellingrud, Lucy Perex, Anouk Petersen, and Valentina Sartori, “Closing the Women’s Health Gap: a $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies,” McKinsey Health Institute Report, 17 January 2024.