On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, SWHR Chief Science Officer Irene Aninye gave remarks at the United Nations UNGA79 Science Summit during the One Health Plenary session. Dr. Aninye spoke at a panel titled “The Policy and Regulatory to Enable One Health.” Below is a portion of her remarks, edited for length and clarity.
The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) is encouraged that the United Nations recognizes the critical role that coordinating research and policy infrastructure plays in improving outcomes for women across the lifespan, as evidenced by the invitation SWHR received to provide commentary on our insights as to how policy and regulatory approaches can ensure the inclusion of women’s health as a focus that will measure successful implementation and advancement towards One Health.
SWHR has long advocated for women’s health research and care to be a national priority in the United States, reflected through robust funding of women’s health research at the federal level and policies that promote science-based interventions and equitable and patient-centered health care.
Why Women’s Health?
Women comprise approximately half of the world’s population, yet their role in the global health care ecosystem is often underrepresented and inadequately considered. Women face unique challenges over the course of their lifespans, due to biological sex differences in health and disease, as well as sociocultural influences related to gender. Disparities exist across disease states and life stages that touch every race, ethnic group, geographic location, and socioeconomic status. A comprehensive strategy to improve the lives and health of women must take into account these sex and gender differences and needs if we are to sustainably close global gender health gaps.
SWHR appreciates that the Science Summit has identified women’s health as a key topic for discussion and encourages the United Nations to keep top of mind how a complete lifespan approach to women’s health is essential to ensuring the good health and well-being of this often-overlooked demographic across the globe. This approach must be applied across the full continuum of basic, clinical, and public health research, clinical training and care, and health care policy and regulations. As such, we urge the UN to fully integrate and prioritize the unique needs of women across the lifespan, and throughout the current sustainable development goals (SDGs) and future development goals.
While progress has been made, a history of intentional exclusion of women from health research and policy has resulted in a frequent failure of stakeholders throughout health care to properly consider the impact of sex and gender on human development and disease progression. This exclusion has left the world playing “catch up” for women’s health, to make up for years of lost knowledge, and has left us with a worldwide gender health gap that exacerbates disparities in women’s health.
SWHR offers three key recommendations to the United Nations and leaders across the globe to close this gender health gap:
- Require appropriate representation of women in R&D and clinical research. Studies have shown that between 2000 and 2020, women were underrepresented in clinical trials in cardiology, oncology, neurology, immunology, and hematology. The statistics related to the inclusion of women of color are even more bleak. Moreover, conditions that primarily affect women (such as osteoporosis, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids) receive less funding in proportion to the disease burden. These oversights are a disservice to scientific knowledge and global health; and it is due to these oversights that many of the misconceptions around women’s health persist.
- Increase and protect investments into women’s health research and health care workforce. It is well documented that diversity contributes to better science and health care, especially among underserved populations. It is important that women be represented across the scientific enterprise, including in research and health care policy leadership – as patients, researchers, clinicians, and key decisionmakers. We must create opportunities for women to thrive in the health care workforce – and then protect these roles even as the health landscape shifts in the face of pandemics, artificial intelligence and innovation, and political climates.
- Recognize the unique health needs of women and the full scope of women’s health. Women’s health extends beyond the stereotype of what many call “bikini medicine,” focused on gynecologic and reproductive health. These are very important topics indeed. However, women’s health comprises everything that differently and disproportionately affects women, such as Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune diseases, sleep and bone health, and major depressive disorders, among many others. SWHR, therefore, encourages the United Nations and this global community to reframe how we think about this work, broadening our approach to One Health and future development goals from traditional topics associated exclusively to “women’s health” towards goals that elevate the overall health of women.
Women’s health touches all facets of the health care ecosystem, so when we investigate the differences between men and women, and even amongst women, we not only improve the health of women, we improve health for all.
Thank you again for the opportunity to contribute to this important discussion on One Health and for your consideration of our comments. The Society for Women’s Health Research looks forward to serving as a resource in future conversations and working with the United Nations Science Summit and global health partners towards ensuring that the health of women is a prioritized in all corners of the world.
SWHR also co-hosted the session “Women’s Unique Health Needs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” with the ECHAlliance at UGA79 this fall, during which Dr. Aninye was a host and moderator. Read more about the event. [Pictured]
Dr Aninye also spoke at “Leveraging AI for Global Healthcare Delivery”, a session hosted by the ECHAlliance during UGA79 aiming to highlight the role of international collaboration and standardization in maximizing AI’s impact on global health outcomes.