An economic imperative to invest in women’s health
Women face unique health challenges that are often overlooked in both clinical practice and medical research. In a recent report titled “Redesigning healthcare with women in mind,” Kearney reveals that despite women making up 70% of chronic pain patients, 80% of pain medications have been tested exclusively on men or male mice. Moreover, women are twice as likely as men to suffer from depression, anxiety and Alzheimer’s disease, yet these conditions remain under-researched and underfunded.
Gender differences in research extend to treatment practices. The Kearney report “Redesigning healthcare with women in mind” notes that women with type 1 diabetes are 37% more likely to die from stroke and 44% more likely to die from kidney disease than men.
The economic cost of overlooking women’s health issues
Neglecting women’s health also carries a significant economic cost. Absenteeism due to severe menstrual pain, endometriosis and other reproductive health conditions costs the UK economy alone nearly £11 billion annually, according to the NHS Confederation’s 2024 report “Women’s health economics: investing in the 51 per cent.” According to the report, menopause-related symptoms result in more than 60,000 women in the UK not being in employment, equating to an economic loss of approximately £1.5 billion annually.
Economic benefits of investing in better care for women
Beyond improving their quality of life, investing in women’s health services can yield significant returns for the economy, studies show. The World Economic Forum estimates that addressing gender gaps in health could boost the global economy by $1 trillion (£801 billion) annually by 2040. The NHS Confederation report found that every additional £1 invested in obstetrics and gynaecology services per woman in England could generate £11 in return, contributing an estimated £319 million to total gross value added (GVA).
Femtech: A catalyst for change
Femtech – a field focused on solutions tailored to women’s unique health needs – has significant potential to close gaps in women’s healthcare. For instance, artificial intelligence (AI) can improve early detection of conditions such as endometriosis and osteoporosis, while telemedicine can provide accessible care for women in underserved regions. From fertility tracking apps to menopause management tools, femtech is giving women better control over their health, with the femtech market projected to exceed $75 billion (£60 billion) in 2025, according to FemTech Analytics.
Why aren’t we investing more in femtech?
While femtech holds great potential, it faces challenges in overcoming gender biases and securing the funding required to expand its impact. According to Sie Ventures, only 2.3% of global venture capital funding went to women-led startups in 2023, and femtech received only a fraction of that. Moreover, 70% of femtech funding has been concentrated in a few established companies, leaving emerging startups starved for growth capital.
Ida Tin, cofounder of female health tracking app Clue, recently highlighted the systemic barriers that femtech faces on the Panelle Talks podcast:
“Late-stage femtech is almost impossible to fund because the capital simply doesn’t exist for this emerging category,” she said. “Funds raised by women GPs for femtech often top out at $30-50M [£24-40M], which is far from enough to scale globally. Male investors, who dominate the space, often lack the perspective needed to see the urgent need for femtech solutions.”
A way forward
Both the NHS Confederation and Kearney reports recommend systemic reforms to address disparities in women’s health, focusing on five key areas:
- Allocating targeted funding to address regional and demographic inequalities, particularly for minority and ethnic groups;
- Developing accessible, women-centric care pathways;
- Reforming medical education to eliminate gender biases;
- Increasing investment in women-focused research and collecting disaggregated data; and
- Supporting cross-sector collaboration to drive innovation and prioritise women’s health needs.
By adopting these recommendations and leveraging innovative technologies, EU healthcare leaders can transform a system historically designed without women in mind.
Ida Tin, mother of the term “femtech,” founder of the think tank Femtech Assembly and cofounder of the Clue app, will be a keynote speaker at HIMSS Europe 2025 June 10-12 in Paris.
