Hubs
Gender bias in R&D means that women's health is suffering. The conditions and experiences which disproportionately, differently or exclusively affect women are persistently overlooked, leading to worse health outcomes and social and economic inequities. We've launched this hub to look at the whole picture.
Dr Cécile Ventola
Senior Technical Officer
Dr Joelle Tan
Senior Analyst
We can’t impact global health if we neglect half of the global population. Women and girls - especially those who are pregnant, lactating or living in LMICs - continue to be overlooked in data collection, clinical trials, interpretation of findings, availability of products, access to care and many other critical steps in the development of health innovations which could make a huge difference. There is a critical need for data and analysis to inform policy agendas, budgets and priorities. We must achieve not just the needed funding levels but true representation of women and girls in global health R&D.
“They say women are too complicated to measure, or we haven’t collected data on them in the past so we can’t start now because there is no comparable data. That’s not good enough when you’re talking about half the world."
says Caroline Criado Perez.
We've launched this hub to gather and highlight the data, analysis and tools that we - and many others - are developing to accelerate progress in women’s health R&D. We aim to inform the decisions and support the activities of funders, policy makers, product developers and advocates to improve women’s health outcomes globally, particularly those in LMICs.
Please explore this suite of resources we've put together, and please let us know your questions and challenges in understanding the landscape of women's health R&D.
Explore our analyses to get the full picture on how gender bias shapes global health R&D and affects how women's needs are recognised and addressed - often sub-optimally .
13-15 October 2024, Berlin, Germany
We partnered with UNFPA at the World Health Summit as they established the WomenX Collective. In a session called Taking the Pulse of Women-Centric R&D Investment: Slow, Steady, or Accelerating? we gave a sneak preview of our latest findings on the gender bias in women's health R&D. We looked at how to accelerate an innovation pipeline that meets the needs of women.
Bookmark this hub and return to see the outcomes of this session.
"Research on women’s health has been underfunded for decades, and many conditions that mostly or only affect women, or affect women differently, have received little to no attention”
Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States
5 min read
Cécile Ventola and Joelle Tan share their takeaways from the World Health Summit in October 2024
5 min read
Menopause is yet another female specific health issue for which product development is needed to empower individuals to make choices about their health, have options and receive the support they need.
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10 min read
Pregnant and lactating women have long been excluded from clinical research. This report seeks to characterise the extent of the evidence gap, focusing on HIV/AIDS, malaria and Zika.
10 min read
Despite chronic pain conditions which are exclusive to women, such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids, women’s pain is frequently misdiagnosed, underestimated or dismissed altogether.
20 min read
We publish in The Lancet Global Health on the striking lack of innovation for pregnancy-related conditions
20 min read
With PTL, PE and IUGR still posing major health threats mothers and babies, this report is encouraged to see a relatively large number of diagnostics being developed or refined for use
20 min read
This snapshot offers insights into European R&D funding from 2018 to 2022 for sexual & reproductive health issues.
20 min read
This report suggests the interventions which target the maternal enteric microbiome can improve maternal and infant health outcomes.
20 min read
This report covers insights into the R&D landscape for maternal iron deficiency anaemia medicines and looks at the impact on levels of anaemia globally.
Browse our full archive of reports. Filter by health area, disease or condition, product, and date. Written by our expert analysts, our reports highlight key messages in the data, make the case for change and offer actionable recommendations.
Our Health Areas resource gives you an at-a-glance summary of the state of innovation and annual R&D investment by disease and condition. Updated regularly, this is a unique quick reference for the global health community.