DAVOS: A report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), in collaboration with the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI), estimates that addressing key women-specific health challenges could unlock $400 billion in global GDP annually by 2040.
The report, titled ‘Blueprint to Close the Women’s Health Gap: How to Improve Lives and Economies for All’, revealed the transformative potential of closing the women’s health gap.
The research identifies nine critical health conditions — spanning lifespan and health span — that could reduce the global disease burden by 27 million disability-adjusted life years each year, adding 2.5 healthy days annually for every woman. These conditions include maternal hypertensive disorders, postpartum haemorrhage, ischemic heart disease, cervical cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis, menopause, migraine, and premenstrual syndrome.
As part of its initiative to bridge health disparities, the Forum has launched the Women’s Health Impact Tracking (WHIT) platform. This publicly accessible tool is designed to monitor health inequities and promote scalable, data-driven solutions worldwide. The WHIT platform focuses on three underfunded conditions–menopause, premenstrual syndrome, and migraine — which alone present a $315 billion GDP opportunity.
Shyam Bishen, Head of the Centre for Health and Healthcare and member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum, said, “Despite the opportunity to add 2.5 additional healthy days to women’s lives, they are often overlooked due to a lack of sex-specific research – only 10 per cent of clinical trials for ischemic heart disease and migraine report such data”.
“It is time to count women, study women, care for women, invest in women and include all women”, added Lucy Perez, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and Co-leader of the McKinsey Health Institute.
The report also outlines a comprehensive blueprint for action, urging stakeholders to focus on five key areas: investing in better data collection, funding research into female-specific health concerns, tailoring clinical guidelines to women’s needs, addressing disparities impacting marginalized groups, and mobilizing resources for innovative healthcare solutions.
“Healthier women form the foundation of stronger families, productive workplaces and resilient economies, and yet profound gender gaps in research and scientific innovation continue to deny women the basic tools, treatments and services they need to remain healthy”, said Anita Zaidi, co-chair of the Global Alliance for Women’s Health and President of Gender Equality at the Gates Foundation.
While 54 per cent of the women’s health burden occurs in low- and middle-income countries, only 23 per cent of clinical trials focus on these regions. Addressing these imbalances could drastically reduce health disparities and unlock vast economic potential. (ANI)