The world needs a renewed focus on women’s health issues, campaigns say today.
Professor Robyn Norton of the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney, Australia, has released a paper called "Women’s Health: A New Global Agenda".
She outlines the necessary global and national strategies to tackle the impact of non-communicable diseases on women.
These diseases include heart disease, stroke and diabetes – the top causes of premature death in most countries. Upwards of 18 million women die each year from this group of diseases.
"Significant gains have been made in women’s health in recent decades because of the focus on reducing unacceptably high levels of maternal mortality and morbidity," says Professor Norton.
"The global agenda should now address the diseases that are responsible for the greatest burden of ill health, and for all but the poorest countries these are non-communicable diseases."
Professor Norton and colleagues also highlight a need to change the way research is conducted, as these diseases impact men and women differently. For example, female smokers have a 25% greater risk of ischaemic heart disease than male smokers.
Global health expert and Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, Meg Hillier, added: "I welcome this timely paper from the Oxford Martin School. It is important that women’s health is not just pigeonholed as sexual or maternal."
The paper is published today (10 February) by the Oxford Martin School. It and will be launched at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health Meeting in Westminster. It will then be debated by experts including Dr Jane Dacre, President of the UK’s Royal College of Physicians.
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