Watch the IWD 2024 #InspireInclusion Women's Health Programme from ITN Business

International Women's Day (IWD) has seen a special news-style programme produced in partnership with ITN Business that focuses on the United Kingdom's gender health gap.

Watch Women’s Health: The Future We Deserve, an important programme showcasing key individuals, companies and organizations that are actively working to inspire inclusion of women's health needs and interests in femtech, workplace health, reproductive medicine and more.

Launched on International Women’s Day and hosted by television presenter and journalist, Louise Minchin, the programme is available to a worldwide audience.

Watch 'Women’s Health: The Future We Deserve'

Understanding and addressing the gender health gap

Why is the health of at least half the global population so often overlooked?

Women live longer than men on average. The reality, however, is that women suffer from more chronic illnesses.

Women are more frequently misdiagnosed, frequently taken less seriously when presenting with symptoms, and are less frequently studied.

The World Economic Forum says that "There remains gender inequality in healthcare, we face wide gaps in research and treatment ability for areas that are unique to women. Slow progress centres around a deficiency of funding and, subsequently, a scarcity of clinical research and data on women’s health issues. By elevating the importance of women’s health, we can deliver better, more inclusive data and insights; more targeted, accessible solutions; and, enable better care for women worldwide."

In fact, it has been reported that the United Kingdom has the largest gender health gap of the G20, and the 12th largest globally.

"There remain shocking disparities in the way women are researched and treated in healthcare, especially in areas that are unique to women or in conditions that might present differently in women. We are keen to highlight the work of individuals and organizations who know this is preventable, and who are working diligently to correct the UK’s gender health gap," says Nina Harrison-Bell, Head of ITN Business.

Several studies support the claim that gender bias in medicine routinely leads to a denial of pain relief for female patients for a range of health conditions. Writer and feminist policy analyst focusing on women's health legislation, Anushay Hossain who wrote The Pain Gap, has previously explained "There’s a pain gap, but there’s also a credibility gap. Women are not believed about their bodies — period.” Something that indeed needs to be talked about, discussed, and ultimately addressed.

Inspiring inclusion and challenging assumptions

Women’s Health: The Future We Deserve features key players actively working to challenge assumptions, positively address women’s health issues, close the gender health gap, and improve health outcomes for women.

Alongside many further leading organizations, thought leadership will be contributed from a range of impactful groups including:

• Wellbeing of Women - a charity working across all of women’s gynaecological and reproductive health aspects and funding vital research to find new cures, tests and treatments to save and change the lives of women, girls and babies
   
• Royal Osteoporosis Society - a charity dedicated to improving bone health and beating osteoporosis and providing practical information and support for taking action for better bone health
   
• Bloody Good Period - a charity providing period products for people who can't afford them, menstrual and reproductive health education, and supporting the normalising of periods at work and beyond to address period poverty - proudly supported by Colt Technology Services
   
• CoppaFeel - a breast cancer awareness charity based in London UK focusing on promoting early detection of breast cancer by encouraging women under 30 to regularly check their breasts

An important and informative IWD 2024 production

Watch this important and informative International Women's Day production being made available to a global audience.

Let's all actively work to #InspireInclusion for women's health, now and for the future we deserve.