Global health leaders call for urgent reform in women’s health research
A new report from global consultancy Kearney and the World Economic Forum’s Global Alliance for Women’s Health—supported by the Gates Foundation—calls for sweeping policy changes to address the chronic underinvestment in women’s health. Despite representing half of the world’s population, women receive only a fraction of healthcare research funding and clinical attention.
Currently, just 7% of healthcare research funding targets conditions that exclusively affect women. Even more alarming, only 5% of existing medications have been appropriately tested and labeled for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
The report, titled *Prescription for Change: Policy Recommendations for Women’s Health Research*, lays out five key reforms:
Make women’s health R&D viable – To spur innovation, the report suggests a mix of regulatory and financial incentives, including tax credits, dedicated research grants, public–private funding partnerships, and pricing reforms. These measures aim to make investment in women’s health research more commercially attractive.
Improve representation in clinical trials – The blueprint urges that clinical trials reflect real-world disease demographics in terms of sex, age, and race. It advocates for mandatory inclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women through structured maternal research plans supported by financial incentives.
Disaggregate clinical trial data – It stresses the importance of analyzing clinical data by sex to capture differences in treatment effects. Standardized terminology and detailed benefit–risk assessments by sex are recommended to prevent key insights from being lost in aggregated data.
Design studies for women – To ensure research captures the nuances of female biology and lived experiences, the report calls for clinical trial strategies that include tailored recruitment methods, community outreach, and education for both participants and researchers.
Communicate sex-specific outcomes – The report recommends that drug labeling, patient information, and clinical guidelines be updated to clearly reflect sex-specific safety, efficacy, and dosing data—based on disaggregated trial results. These updates should become a requirement for regulatory approval.
Why it matters
Kearney’s global healthcare lead noted that women often face delays, misdiagnoses, and inadequate treatment due to healthcare systems that overlook sex-specific needs.
Paula Bellostas Muguerza, global lead of Kearney’s Healthcare and Life Sciences practice, said that many women still face misdiagnoses, delayed treatment, and systemic neglect in healthcare. She shared her own experience of feeling invisible until a doctor finally considered her as a woman, not just a patient. She noted these are not isolated incidents but symptoms of systems not designed with women in mind. She added that the report outlines five policy areas for reform, including changes to research funding and trial design. She emphasized that similar targeted efforts have improved outcomes in other areas like rare diseases and pediatrics, and that it’s time to apply the same focus to women’s health.
Shyam Bishen, head of the Centre for Health and Healthcare at the World Economic Forum, stressed the need for personalized care that addresses women’s specific health issues, beginning with inclusive research. He warned that excluding women from studies harms everyone and said the proposed policy changes are vital for advancing treatments, prevention strategies, and global development.
Sanjana Bhardwaj, deputy director of global policy and advocacy at the Gates Foundation, said the fact that women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health points to a systemic issue. She called for urgent reforms in women’s health research, describing it as key to smarter science, stronger economies, and greater equity. She urged turning potential into policy and policy into tangible progress.
Category: Education, Top Story
