Beyond International Women’s Day: Inspiring Inclusion and Investment in Women

Last week on International Women’s Day as we celebrated the remarkable achievements of women worldwide, I had the privilege of participating in two significant events that resonated deeply with our mission and values here at Ablatus - creators of Luna . Our first stop was at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists | RCOG 's Global Conference, where we had the opportunity to engage with leading experts and pioneers in women’s health. I was also honoured to be invited to take part in the brilliant Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association ’s panel on “Inspiring Inclusion and Invest in Women’s Health”, an area that remains so vastly underrepresented.?

Over the course of an action-packed day in London, it was enlightening to participate in these exceptional events and have the opportunity to engage with and hear from some truly inspiring individuals on the all-important agenda of shaping the future of women's health, the very heartbeat of our mission here at Ablatus - creators of Luna .?

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day, “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” and “Inspire Inclusion”, could not be more fitting – a powerful call for action to prioritise investment in initiatives and programmes that support and empower women and forge a more inclusive world for women. By investing in women, whether through education, healthcare, or leadership development, we can accelerate progress towards equality and equity. When women are supported and given the resources they need, everyone benefits.??

Healthcare is one of those key areas where women’s needs have been overlooked & under-prioritised for far too long. The discussions I had the privilege to be a part this week was a really great chance to hear some diverse viewpoints, all focused on the urgency to ensure that this critically underfunded area gets the appropriate attention, care and investment it deserves. ?

First stop – RCOG Conference!?

The RCOG Conference was an excellent chance to dive deep into how to shift the dial forward for women’s health. As the UK’s first Women’s Health Hub, home to 15 organisations working on women’s health, and the world’s truly global hub, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists | RCOG , led by CEO, Kate Lancaster , is dedicated to building local & global partnerships to advance the science and practice of obstetrics and gynaecology. With a genuine dedication to understanding and meeting the unique needs of women, they are setting the standards and helping to create a progressive environment where women feel empowered to take control of their health and wellbeing.?

The role and potential of tech was highlighted in addressing the distinct needs of women for tangible outcomes. In particular, to empower women to take charge of their healthcare and wellbeing.??

As CEO, Kate Lancaster said in her opening speech: “By amplifying the voices of women and championing their rights, we can create a more inclusive and equitable society, where women's health is prioritised, and healthcare services are capable of meeting their needs”.

Some asked: Do we still need International Women’s Day? YES. ?“One day a year to recognise the challenges that women face. To celebrate achievements made by women” – were the poignant words from Dr. Ranee Thakar, President of RCOG. She went on to discuss and emphasise the vital topic, "Women’s Health is Wealth”, a crucial reminder of the importance of prioritising women's health for the well-being of society as a whole.?

Likewise, it was incredibly enlightening to hear Dr. Dileep-Wijeratne and Dr. Joanna-Gibson discuss the significant burden of gynaecological conditions on women, bringing attention to severely neglected area of healthcare and highlighting the profound challenges faced by millions of women worldwide.??

Despite the alarming statistics revealing the significant morbidity and mortality rates, gynaecological diseases remain one of the least prioritised areas of health globally. In fact, research published by the RCOG last year emphasised that the burden of these diseases surpasses that of malaria, HIV/AIDS, and TB combined (1). This revelation doesn't diminish the importance of addressing other diseases but rather reveals the shocking reality of how deeply gynaecological conditions, predominantly affecting women, have long been neglected and under-funded on the global health agenda.?

Conditions such as fibroids, endometriosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are often disregarded or given insufficient attention in medical settings simply because they are not cancer. However, this perspective is shortsighted. While these conditions may not pose an immediate threat to life like cancer, labelling and treating it as ‘benign’ may have the unintended consequences of belittling and depriotising these highly prevalent conditions that undeniably have a significant impact on a woman's quality of life. Symptoms such as chronic pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, infertility, and hormonal imbalances associated with fibroids and endometriosis can be debilitating, affecting not only physical health but also daily functioning, relationships, and mental well-being.?

The real-world consequence is that women suffering from these conditions experience significant delays in diagnosis, limited treatment options, and overall neglect of their health concerns.?

This disparity underscores the urgent need to increase awareness and action in addressing these conditions. Countless women and girls suffer needlessly, experiencing preventable pain and enduring a poor quality of life. It's crucial to recognise that just because these conditions are not cancerous, they are not less deserving of attention or resources – the costs to individuals and society build up whilst its impact is overlooked. Every individual's health deserves equal consideration and care. There are tremendous opportunities for improvement, innovation, and impact in addressing these often-dismissed yet profoundly important health challenges.?

The event was also an exciting chance to celebrate innovations transforming women’s healthcare, where some really fantastic companies showcased how tech can be used to address the gender gap in healthcare.?

One key topic was Inclusivity. RCOG’s Women’s Network emphasized just how important it is to make sure that healthcare innovations consider the diverse needs of individuals. Critically, that means involving a diverse group with lived experiences from the outset of the innovation process. By incorporating a range of perspectives, healthcare innovations can be developed to be genuinely inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of all women.?

It also highlighted the need to recognise and understand the different ways in which people experience health disparities and to actively work towards eliminating these disparities. Key amongst these are collective efforts to promote fairness, equality, and accessibility in healthcare for everyone, regardless of their background, gender, age or circumstance.?

Of course, we cannot do this on our own. Advancing women's health requires collective action and collaboration across borders, disciplines and backgrounds. It's crucial to have vocal advocates championing this because, we can achieve far more together than we can alone.?

Inspiring Inclusion and Investing in Women & Women’s Health?

Offering further food for thought, I joined an exciting panel discussion at Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association 's special event for International Women’s Day hosted by Takeda UK and Ireland in London last Thursday. The event was an excellent chance to dive into the critical topic of inspiring greater inclusivity and investment into women, specifically focused on women’s health.?

One of the key points addressed during the discussion was the importance of defining women's health itself. While on a broader level, it encompasses issues unique to women such as menstruation and menopause, women’s health is far more nuanced. For starters, when we speak about women’s health, there needs to be greater acknowledging of health conditions that affect both men and women, but which affect them differently, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Understanding and acknowledging this broad spectrum of conditions and not limiting it to the ‘bikini area’ is vital if we are to create tailored and effective healthcare solutions that work for women as they work for men.???

It was also a chance to highlight that these needs are not static – women’s health and their needs change across their lifespan. From adolescence to menopause and beyond, women have distinct healthcare needs that evolve over time. By understanding and adapting healthcare interventions to meet these evolving needs, we can ensure that women receive timely and appropriate care at every stage of their lives. Ensure that they equal access to high-quality healthcare services that are appropriate and relevant to their needs.?

For starters, it’s important to ensure women's voice is represented more in management and throughout funding decision making processes. This is particularly important given that, when it comes to crucial healthcare decisions for the family, women shoulder the brunt of the responsibility. Yet, women remain noticeably underrepresented in across the decision-making chain in healthcare – while they make up 80 percent of buying and usage decisions and 65 percent of the workforce, they only make up approximately 30 percent of C-suite teams and 13 percent of CEOs (2). On an individual level, women tend to use healthcare services more frequently than men and have a range of needs that can be both more frequent and complex. So, why is our healthcare system predominantly built by and managed by men??

It was a privilege to participate in this enlightening discussion to highlight these particular challenges and discuss the way forward, towards creating a society that more inclusive and equal.???

Women make up half of our planet’s population. However, health conditions that affect women more than men remain consistently underfunded - despite there being enormous benefits to closing the gender health gap (3).??

The?funding?of research for women is simply not aligned with actual burdens of disease (4). One significant contributing factor may be the perception among decision-makers and investors that women’s health is irrelevant unless it directly impacts someone they know. These dismissive attitudes of "didn’t know about this, doesn’t affect me, not my problem”, further underscore the glaring absence of women at decision-making tables.?

To tackle these disparities and create a healthcare system that truly meets the needs of all women, it’s vital to adopt a more inclusive approach from the very beginning. This means designing research studies, clinical trials, and healthcare interventions and outreach with women's participation, ensuring that they are adequately represented and considered at every stage of development, from start to finish. This inclusivity must extend beyond just representation to encompass women of different ages, cultures, borders and diverse backgrounds.?

A key takeaway from the event was that effective communication is critical to ensuring that everyone feels welcome in being a part of the discussion, to build awareness, action and change – whether at home, at school or at work. By talking about women’s health and not making it a taboo subject, we can begin to normalise the subject and allow everyone to be a part of making it better. At home or at school, younger children including boys and girls could be educated about the topic, at work, policies could be tailored to be more relevant to female workers’ health needs and if a condition tends to affect specific communities, communication at the appropriate level will be more targeted and effective.??

The panel discussion and audience agreed with the conclusion that “if women flourish, we all flourish” and there is much to be done in women’s health.

We believe that it is beyond International Women’s Day. ?

How we’re changing the game for women’s health??

As a woman-led medical device company, we're passionate about levelling the playing field and transforming women’s health. Uterine fibroids affect a staggering 80% of women by the age of 50, yet the available treatments often fall short - very few are long-term, minimally invasive and uterus-preserving.?

Our mission at Ablatus - creators of Luna is to provide millions of women worldwide with access to safe, cost-effective and inclusive treatment options for uterine fibroids, empowering them to enjoy a better quality of life while preserving their fertility.?

We're currently inviting members of the public to join us today in this transformative journey by investing in our crowdfunding campaign. If you're an investor passionate about advancing women’s health and want to be part of something truly impactful, please don't hesitate to reach out me for more information. Or simply head over to our page to invest and help us change the game for women everywhere!?

References

(1) https://www.rcog.org.uk/news/new-rcog-research-highlights-the-huge-impact-of-gynaecological-conditions-on-women-globally-predominantly-in-low-and-middle-income-countries/?

(2) https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/perspectives/health/2019/jan/women-in-healthcare-make-80--of-purchasing-decisions--yet-13--of.html?

(3) https://pharmaphorum.com/patients/womens-health-priority-not-charity?

(4) https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-023-01475-2/index.html?

Features in celebration of International Women's Day 2024

Who cares? Why Improvements To Women's Health Will Benefit Everyone

https://medtech.citeline.com/MT154487/Who-Cares-Ablatus-CEO-On-Why-Improvements-To-Womens-Health-Will-Benefit-Everyone by Barnaby Pickering ?

Celebrating Women in MedTech:

https://www.medicalplasticsnews.com/medical-plastics-industry-insights/medical-plastics-thought-leadership/international-women-s-day-2024/ by Olivia Friett

Or listen here: https://soundcloud.com/medtalkpodcast/femtech-series-celebrating-women-in-medtech?si=4cdbbd41a8954d519680c35bd33a3a21&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

With special thanks to my dear collaborator, Julia Price ! ??