Underfunded, Understudied, and Undervalued: the State of Women’s Health

Women make up half the population, yet their health needs remain overlooked in research, funding, and leadership.

Dr. Magda Robalo, M.D.

Executive Director, Women in Global Health

Women’s History Month is meant to celebrate progress, but for millions of women, progress in health remains uneven and insufficient. Despite making up half the world’s population, women’s health is under-researched and underfunded, shaped by systems that too often fail to meet their health needs. 

Globally, women make up roughly 70% of the global health and care workforce, yet hold only about one quarter of senior leadership roles. Women health workers also face lower pay, chronic work-life imbalance, and significantly higher rates of harassment and violence. 

That leadership imbalance influences which health conditions are prioritized, how resources are allocated, and whose voices shape policy. 

Investment patterns reinforce these inequities. Only about 5% of total healthcare research and development funding is directed toward women’s health. Even within that narrow share, research disproportionately targets conditions with high mortality while overlooking those that cause long-term disability and economic loss. There are up to 10 times more new therapies in development for some women’s cancers than for common gynecological conditions such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and menopause, despite their widespread impact on quality of life and productivity.

Global under-serving systems

Maternal health tells a similar story. Maternal conditions impose a burden of suffering comparable to women-specific cancers, yet investment lags far behind. Postpartum hemorrhage — the leading preventable cause of maternal death globally, including in parts of the United States — has seen only two effective new medicines developed in the past 30 years. This gap is not about scientific feasibility; it reflects whose lives are valued.

These inequities are compounded by intersecting forms of discrimination. Race, ethnicity, disability, migration status, poverty, and exposure to conflict all shape women’s health risks and access to care. In the U.S., Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, regardless of income or education. Indigenous women experience higher rates of maternal mortality and chronic disease, linked to structural racism and underinvestment in health services.

Globally, migrant women, women with disabilities, and women living in conflict settings face compounded barriers, from legal exclusion and language barriers to inaccessible facilities and heightened exposure to violence, resulting in consistently worse health outcomes. These disparities are not accidental. They are produced by health systems designed around a narrow definition of whose needs matter.

Data-backed disparity

Longevity statistics often obscure this reality: Women tend to live longer than men, but they spend about 25% more of their lives in poor health. On average, a woman lives nearly nine years with illness or disability, limiting participation in the workforce and community life, and reducing lifetime earnings and economic security.

Data gaps deepen the problem. Despite decades of evidence on biological and gender differences, a recent review of widely used health interventions found that only about half report sex-disaggregated data. When such data exist, nearly two-thirds of interventions are less effective or less accessible for women compared with just 10% for men. 

The good news is that investing in women’s health pays off. Closing the gap created by the extra years women spend in poor health could add at least $1 trillion to the global economy every year by 2040, while improving well-being across generations.

Women’s health is not a special interest. It is foundational to economic stability, social cohesion, and shared prosperity. Women’s History Month should remind us that equity in women’s health requires sustained investment, inclusive leadership, better data, and health systems designed to serve all women.

Recognition alone is not enough — equity requires action.

The post Underfunded, Understudied, and Undervalued: the State of Women’s Health appeared first on Education and Career News.