Despite centuries of medical study, women’s bodies remain poorly understood, with research often describing them as “mysterious” compared to men’s. This knowledge gap has real consequences: women experience longer delays in diagnosis, higher rates of chronic pain, and overall spend 25 percent more of their lives in ill health than men. These disparities are compounded for women facing racial, economic, or other forms of marginalization.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is calling for global action to address these gaps. World leaders will gather at UN Headquarters to explore how science, technology, and innovation can advance women’s and girls’ health, emphasizing the need for research that fully includes women. Historically, clinical trials have largely used men as the standard, with pregnant women particularly underrepresented, leading to inadequate treatment guidelines and higher risks of adverse drug reactions in women.
Women are also disproportionately affected by delayed and misdiagnosis. Conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome often go undetected for years, causing prolonged pain, infertility, and other complications. These delays are especially severe in crisis-affected regions where access to quality healthcare is limited. Maternal deaths and other preventable outcomes highlight the urgency of timely diagnosis and treatment.
The economic and social costs of neglecting women’s health are significant. Poor health limits education and workforce participation, reduces economic empowerment, and negatively affects future generations. Addressing these gaps could add at least $1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040, while improving quality of life for billions of women.
A critical step is closing the gender data gap. Women’s symptoms, from menstruation to menopause, are often under-measured, and data collection frequently fails to capture sex-disaggregated information. Incomplete or biased data undermines investment, research, and effective healthcare delivery, including the development of AI-driven diagnostic tools.
Inclusion is essential to solving these issues. Increasing women’s participation in research, leadership, and data collection strengthens health systems and innovation. UNFPA initiatives, such as gender-responsive civil registration and vital statistics programs, aim to improve data collection and analysis. Equitable design in technology and AI can further enhance diagnostics, treatments, and health outcomes. UNFPA stresses that investing in women’s and girls’ health today is the foundation for a healthier, more equitable future.
