What is the gender health gap and why you should care

Author: Meaghan Bachop

 

Did you know that women are diagnosed later than men for over 700 diseases?

Higher costs associated with reproductive healthcare, invalidation and dismissal of pain, worse outcomes for illnesses like heart disease, or the fact that less than 1% of healthcare research and innovation focuses on female-specific conditions are all examples of how the gender health gap disproportionately impacts women. 

So, what is the gender health gap?

The gender health gap refers to disparities in healthcare access, treatment, and outcomes for women compared to men. But let’s take a pause here because health inequities don’t exist in isolation.

Intersectionality plays a huge role in health outcomes, meaning that factors like race, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability, and socioeconomic status create compounded layers of inequality in healthcare. However, for this article, we will focus on the disparities that affect women as a broad demographic.

Hint: it goes way beyond just women. 

Women make up half of the global population, so when their health is overlooked, entire communities, families, economies, and societies feel the ripple effect. When women can’t access the care they need, productivity goes down, caregiving burdens increase, and preventable diseases become long-term emotional and financial drains. 

So, where does the gap stem from? The short answer: it’s complicated.

Historically, women have been excluded from clinical trials due to concerns about hormonal fluctuations and pregnancy. The result? Medications and treatments have been tested on and optimized for male bodies, leaving women at risk for misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment.

This isn’t just an issue of the past. Even today, despite comprising 50.5% of the U.S. population, women only made up 41.2% of all clinical trial participants in 2022.

The gender health gap doesn’t just mean less access to care; it can often mean receiving the wrong care, too. 

Heart disease, for example, is the leading cause of death for women. But when women report the same symptoms of coronary heart disease as men, they are twice as likely to be misdiagnosed with a mental illness instead.

That’s not just frustrating, it’s seriously effed up.

Another example? Female-specific diseases like endometriosis are often dismissed by healthcare providers as “bad periods,” often going years undiagnosed despite causing debilitating pain for over 190 million women globally. 

Underfunded Research = A Widening Gap

Research shapes medical advancements, treatment guidelines, and public health policies. So when less than 1% of healthcare research funding is allocated to female-specific conditions, it’s no wonder that women continue to face delays in diagnosis, ineffective treatments, and a lack of medical innovations tailored to their needs.

And it’s not just about funding. Access to care is a major issue, too. Over 19 million women of reproductive age in the U.S. live in contraceptive deserts, which means they lack reasonable access to birth control options.

So, how can we help close this gap?

  1. Invest in Women’s Health Research

We need more research on female-specific conditions and studies that include women in diverse demographics. For example, conditions like breast cancer have seen breakthroughs thanks to targeted research, which is amazing, but let’s not stop there.

  1. Train Healthcare Providers to Address Bias

Education and training can help providers recognize and address biases that lead to disparities in care. This includes understanding how women’s symptoms may present differently and taking all complaints, especially pain, seriously.

  1. Advocate for Policy Changes

By increasing funding, enacting anti-bias policies, and making healthcare more accessible to underserved communities, governments and organizations can prioritize gender equity in healthcare.

  1.  Support Women Founders and Innovations Closing the Gap

Women’s health is a massive, largely untapped market, yet it receives only 2% of healthcare venture capital funding. Despite this, women-led health startups consistently deliver strong financial returns—achieving 35% higher return on investment (ROI) and 12% greater revenue than male-led companies.

Check out the full Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM) 2025 Report: The Business Case for Accelerating Women’s Health Investment to explore how investing in women’s health drives innovation, improves lives, and generates big financial returns.

  1. Educate & Advocate for Yourself

Knowledge is power! Learn about the gender health gap, share resources, and start conversations. The more we shine a light on these disparities, the harder they become to ignore.

Upsilon recognizes there are significant gaps in the women’s healthcare space. It is driven by the belief women should not have to compromise their health or settle for a less-than-satisfactory solution.

The gender health gap won’t close overnight, but by demanding better research, better policies, and better care, we can make healthcare more closely meet the needs of today’s women.

 

References

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