The UK ranks as the worst among all G20 countries and 12th globally in terms of women’s health, according to Dr Amy Pressland, talent development manager at Benenden Health.
But if the gap is closed, the UK economy could save some £39bn by 2040.
Pressland (pictured) said: “Russia has the largest men’s health gap, which means that men experience poor health outcomes in Russia compared to women.
“In the UK unfortunately, we have the largest gender health gap skewed towards women in all G20 countries and globally we are the 12th worst country in terms of women’s health.
“You probably wouldn’t expect us to be the 12th worst country in terms of women’s health, and yet that’s the experience for women in terms of healthcare provision and services.”
She was discussing the findings of the Benenden report on the gender health gap with Dave Middleton, executive chairman of AMII and host of the Talking Health and Wellbeing Podcast earlier in August.
The gender health gap refers to disparities in healthcare services that can disproportionately favour either men or women on a global scale.
The Benenden Health report involved interviews with 10,000 women, 5,000 female employees, and 1,000 female and male business owners.
“And when you think about our standard of living, how we might position ourselves globally, our freedom of expression and movement – you probably wouldn’t put ourselves in the worst 12 countries of the world.
“And yet that is the experience of women in this country in terms of healthcare provision and services.”
Phenomenal
But the economy would benefit greatly if the gender health gap was closed.
Pressland said: “We know that if we can close this gender health gap by 2040 it will add approximately £39bn to the UK economy, which is just phenomenal.
“So if that’s not an impetus, I don’t know what is.”
The findings also showed that 150 billion working days per year are lost due to the gender health gap, and rebalancing this gap could provide women with an additional 9.5 healthy days per year.
Pressland also said that the gender pay gap is 14% and that women earn on average £100,000 less in pensions than their male counterparts over a lifetime.
“Women make up 51% of the population of the UK and yet they are not getting a fair share of the healthcare pie,” Pressland continued.
The report also showed how this gap impacts other aspects of society, showing that one-third of business owners lack knowledge of how to support women in the workplace.
Male-biased NHS
Pressland said: “We know the NHS was originally set up by and for men. The default patient has always been male, which means that women have been treated and seen as smaller men – which is just not the case.
“Women have more significant health chapters in their lives than men as pat of their natural life cycle,” Pressland added.
“It’s quite tough to be a woman nowadays in the UK.
“What we know from our research is that women tend to be treated differently by healthcare professionals.
“So we know that for example 35% of women have had a poor health outcome because they are a woman.
“We know 36% of women have received a late diagnosis and 33% have received an incorrect diagnosis.
“You can imagine if you are waiting for a diagnosis and you finally get it and its actually the wrong thing.
“And on top of that we know a quarter of women were put on the wrong medication.
“So some of those factors contribute to women experiencing poorer health outcomes.”
Work culture
On the topic of the way forward, Pressland said that women want their workplaces to be more aware about women’s health.
“Women would like their employees to take their healthcare and their health situation seriously,” she added. “They want a culture that is open about women’s health.
“From an employment perspective I would like to make sure that every woman can go to work and feel supported, regardless of what they are going through, regardless of what their families are going through and they can thrive.”