March was International Women’s Month, Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, the perfect opportunity to put the spotlight on the pressing issues that women face every day.
International Women’s Day was on the 8th March and this year’s theme set the tone for the month.
This year’s theme was #BalanceForBetter and aimed to stress the importance of creating a gender-balanced world.
This campaign didn’t just begin and end in March but continues all year long. The team behind the #BalanceForBetter theme is hoping that over the year society can work towards gender-balance in all sectors so that we can see more gender-balanced boardrooms, governments, media coverage, wealth, businesses and more.
Since March, organisations throughout the world have launched their own #BalanceForBetter campaigns to either explore what needs to be done to create a more gender-balanced world or to showcase women in various fields who are creating gender-balance through their work. One such organisation was Noire Wellness and we were delighted to have been featured in their campaign (thank you!).
Noire Wellness’ campaign focused on balance in the wellness sector. Their campaign featured women in this sector, showcased their work and explored what balance means to them.
We took the opportunity that this campaign presented to call for gender-balance in public health approaches.
Having spent the last few years slowly developing a fibroids health and wellbeing programme, we have seen first-hand the effect of not creating gender-balance in public health.
By not taking gender into account many health conditions, particularly gynaecological conditions, are overlooked with their impact not being fully appreciated. This means that women with conditions like fibroids lack the information and support that they require to make informed decisions about their treatment, to improve their own health and wellbeing and navigate the many challenges that living with fibroids presents. Furthermore, there is a lack of research and a lack of understanding of the causes of fibroids.
We aren’t the only ones calling for a gender-balanced approach.
We recently attended a webinar on women and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and it was stressed that there needs to be a more gender-balanced approach to public health to avoid placing women at a disadvantage. One of the speakers explained that when it comes to medical research the male body is well-known, most research is conducted on white men and data is simply (and with a false expectation) extrapolated to women. This means there is no appreciation of the biological differences that exist between males and females and how this impacts health. The speaker stated that, for example, we now know that:
- Women’s lungs are smaller than men’s which has an impact on women’s risks of developing lung diseases and the type of lung diseases that women develop
- Women’s hearts are smaller
- Women are more likely to develop a different form of bowel cancer
- Women process alcohol differently
These gender differences, and others, have gone unnoticed by the medical profession and this has led to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. This would not have been the case if there was a gender-balanced approach in the health sector.
More work is needed to address the gender imbalance that has been created in public health and medical research. By creating gender-balance in these areas we can begin to address the gender inequalities that exist and ensure that we can improve the health of all women.
