From Ignored to Empowered: The Slow Progress of Women's Health

Women's health has been a crucial issue over the centuries, but the healthcare system has been slow to take it seriously. Lack of education, gender bias, and systemic issues have often caused misdiagnosis—or in worst-case scenarios, some conditions affecting women remain poorly understood.

Research has documented gender disparities in pain management. In a 2008 one study of emergency department patients with acute abdominal pain, women were less likely than men to receive pain medication and waited longer to receive it.

One step toward improving research is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy, which expects sex to be considered a biological variable in the design, analysis, and reporting of NIH-funded human and vertebrate animal studies.

Even today, some women report that their symptoms are dismissed or attributed to stress without adequate investigation. To help you understand, let's dig into the history of women's health and the slow progress in taking it seriously.

How Women's Healthcare Has Improved Over the Decades

There have been numerous advancements in women's healthcare over the last century, with awareness expanding beyond the narrow compass of the reproductive system. The healthcare system is slowly but surely expanding its knowledge to include health issues such as menopause, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Some of the notable improvements include:

• Introduction of the birth control pill, which gave women more control over their reproductive health
• Advances in breast cancer screening and treatment, including mammography and increasingly effective therapies
• Improvements in prenatal care, skilled care during childbirth, and postpartum care, helping prevent maternal deaths
• Efforts to better understand and treat conditions affecting women, including endometriosis and Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS, formerly called PCOS), which was renamed in 2026 to better reflect its hormonal and metabolic effects. The new name is being phased in ahead of the 2028 international guideline update.

But despite these advances, there is still much work the sector needs to do to improve women's healthcare. For instance, investing in research and innovation can build on the progress made over the past century and ensure that all women have access to high-quality healthcare.

The History of Menopause Education

For centuries, menopause was poorly understood, and its symptoms were sometimes wrongly associated with emotional instability or mental illness. Scientific understanding improved substantially during the 20th century, particularly as researchers identified ovarian hormones and began studying their role in reproductive health. Today, menopause is recognized as a natural biological transition, although gaps in education, research, and clinical care persist.

Hormone therapy has also had a complicated history. Concerns about potential health risks led many women to avoid treatment, even when it might have offered relief. Today, researchers understand that the benefits and risks vary depending on factors such as age, medical history, treatment type, and timing. For many eligible women, hormone therapy remains an effective option for managing menopausal symptoms, alongside nonhormonal treatments.

Given society's view of women's health, there's a need to raise awareness about menopause and its impact on women's health and wellbeing. The healthcare system also needs to provide appropriate care during this transition. Continued research, improved education, and greater access to care can help ensure that women have the information and treatment options they need to navigate menopause with confidence.

Changes Still Need to be Made

Although there's evident progress in women's health, much still needs to be done to improve the issue and health education for women. Some of the most crucial areas that the health sector needs to improve on include the following:

Menopause Research

While studies funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) seek to better understand menopause, there is still much that physicians need to learn about this important transition in women's lives. For example, although researchers have established that declining estrogen levels during menopause can accelerate bone loss and increase osteoporosis risk, continued research is needed to improve prevention, early detection, and treatment.

Clinical trials have shown that systemic hormone therapy can improve menopause-related quality of life, particularly by relieving bothersome symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats. However, continued research is needed to develop additional safe and effective treatment options.

Primary Healthcare for Women

Primary healthcare is crucial in responding to women's unique health needs. However, significant health disparities persist among different populations of women, particularly Black women.

The sector can address these disparities by prioritizing women's and girls' health and healthcare daily. It can achieve this by promoting health equity by addressing social determinants of health like poverty, education, and access to care and improving healthcare systems to ensure women receive appropriate care that meets their needs.

Championing Research and Policy that Improves Women's Health

The healthcare sector can champion research and policy to improve women's health in various ways. For instance:

• Investing in research that addresses gaps in women's representation in specific research areas and improves analysis of sex differences helps strengthen the evidence for women's healthcare.
• Governments and the private sector must increase their investment in health systems to ensure that women and girls have equal access to care.
• Advancing women in healthcare leadership can lead to impactful organizational strategies, practices, and policies that promote women's health.
• Promoting research on women's health can help identify scientific advances that improve our understanding of women's health.
• Using national health initiatives such as Healthy People 2030 can guide efforts to reduce health disparities, improve access to care, and address social determinants of health.

Championing research and policy that addresses the unique healthcare needs of women is essential for ensuring that all women receive high-quality care that meets their individual needs.

Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Improve the Overall State of Women's Health

Addressing social determinants of health, such as income, social support, early childhood development, education, employment, housing, and gender, can improve health and reduce longstanding disparities in health and healthcare. The sector can achieve this by focusing on Healthy People 2030's overarching goals, including creating social, physical, and economic environments that help all people reach their full potential for health and well-being.

Strategies that can help reduce barriers to care and support health include:

• Increasing access to affordable housing
• Providing job training and education programs
• Expanding access to transportation
• Improving primary healthcare systems to address gaps and barriers in women's access to care

Final Thoughts

Women's health has been a neglected area of healthcare for far too long. However, with the progress made over the past century, there is hope for the future. Educating ourselves and others about women's health concerns and advocating for change in the healthcare industry can improve women's overall health and well-being worldwide.