Closing the gender gap in health care could add at least $1 trillion a year to the global economy by 2040, according to the first report quantifying the economic opportunity of investing in women’s well-being.
Every $1 invested to improve women’s health can return $3 to the economy as quality of life improves and women can actively participate in the labor market. It could lead to seven extra healthy days per year for each woman, or more than 500 days over a lifetime.
The research, published on Wednesday in Davos from the World Economic Forum and the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) found that women spent an average of 25% longer in poor health than men and that this could be reduced by almost two-thirds if the health gap were closed.
The report quantifies the health gap in terms of disability-adjusted life years – the number of years lost due to poor health, disability or premature death – and the extent to which this difference is due to the structural and systemic barriers women face.
It quoted studies from Denmark It found that women were diagnosed later than men for a range of diseases – up to 2.5 years longer for cancer, while metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, were diagnosed an average of 4.5 years later.
It found that women’s health is often simplified to include only sexual and reproductive health, which underrepresents women’s health burden. It also showed that data on women’s health was often missing or inaccurate, and that funding for research into specific conditions was scarce. As of 2015, there were five times more scientific studies on erectile dysfunction, which affects 19% of men, than on premenstrual syndrome, which affects 90% of women.
Dr. Lucy Pérez, co-author of the report and senior partner at MHI, said: “Many people think women are healthier because they live longer, and that’s simply not true. On average, women spend nine years of their lives in poor health, and the majority of these are of working age. Many of the underlying causes can be addressed.
“Even with the same condition – for example a heart attack – the way the disease manifests itself is different. Because if the same toolkit is used for both sexes who are biologically different, one group may have a worse outcome.
“The good news is that we know this and can design interventions that can meet the needs of individuals that health professionals are intended to serve and lead to better health outcomes. Better health outcomes translate into more opportunities for individuals.”
The health and economic benefits of closing the health gap in women were “tremendous,” Pérez added.
Anouk Petersen, co-author of the MHI report, said: “Women have been treated by the scientific and medical community as if they were little men, when our entire biology is different… We need to evolve our understanding of women’s health to look at the whole person in a much more specific way if we want to close this gap.”
The publication of the report coincided with the launch of the Global Alliance for Women’s Health, a global multi-sector platform to improve investments in women’s health. At least 42 organizations have signed on to support the alliance, pledging $55 million.