What is ‘medical misogyny’ and how is it impacting women’s health?
When women seek out medical support in Australia, there’s a chance they might come up against “medical misogyny”, a phenomenon that acknowledges there is ingrained gender bias in the healthcare system.

If you take a close look, there are countless stories of women who’ve experienced issues like delayed diagnoses for serious medical conditions, and even an outright dismissal of their pain when trying to access healthcare. This bias can lead to poorer health outcomes and inadequate support for women’s health. 

What does the research say about the current state of women’s health?
When it comes to medical research, most studies are conducted with male participants, which means most clinical guidelines, symptom checklists and treatments aren’t currently tailored to meet the specific needs of women.

This scenario has resulted in many women’s health issues being severely under researched.

In Australia, several studies have shown that those who suffer from endometriosis wait an average of seven years before they’re officially diagnosed.

Autism in girls has also been shown to have a significantly delayed diagnosis, and girls are being diagnosed for ADHD at just under half the rates of boys.

Cardiovascular disease is another area of health which remains vastly under-diagnosed, under-treated and under-researched for the over 1 million women in Australia who have it. More than 35 per cent of deaths in women each year are caused by cardiovascular disease, and women tend to be diagnosed 7 to 10 years later than men.

These are just a handful of examples that illustrate the problems that stem from gender bias in health.

Thankfully, with increased awareness of just how much medical misogyny is affecting women, the Australian government is taking some steps to improve the situation.

Late last year, as part of the 2020-2030 National Women’s Health Strategy, the federal government announced a new National Women’s Health Advisory Council to address the stark differences in health outcomes for women and girls.

What is the government’s new advisory council and how could it help?
Made up of women’s health experts, representatives from various professional bodies and women with lived experience, the National Women’s Health Advisory Council will advise the government on priority health issues for women and girls in Australia, including menstruation, reproductive healthcare, menopause, medical consent and pain management. 

Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Ged Kearney MP chairs the council and says that the reality behind our health care system needs fixing as “serious inequities persist”. 

“That’s why we established the National Women’s Health Advisory Council, to provide expert advice that will create tangible change for women in their everyday lives,” she says.

The Council plans to look into medical research and health outcomes for women across a range of conditions like heart disease, autism and cancer care.

Kearney is adamant that this increased focus on combating medical misogyny will help provide real world reforms for the health of all women and girls, including for First Nations women, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people, the culturally and linguistically diverse community, women with lived experience of disability or violence and regional and remote communities.

“A combination of social prejudice, ingrained bias in medical practice and exclusion from research trials and other studies culminate in a medical catastrophe for women,” says Kearney.

“In Australia no one should fall through the cracks when it comes to safe, high quality and affordable healthcare. It’s happening too often for women and we need to find effective ways to address the problem.”

Endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics
Another recent win for women’s health is the opening of Australia’s first Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinics. There are now 20 clinics providing expert, multidisciplinary services from specialised staff including nurse practitioners and allied health professionals.

Each clinic will receive more than $700,000 over the next four years, and the money will go  towards each clinic’s specialised equipment, fit-outs such as pelvic physiotherapy units, resources, training and development.

Speaking to the importance of these clinics for women’s health, Kearney said, “Gathering expertise under one roof, fostering that knowledge to improve diagnosis and services, having referral pathways in place – these are all crucial elements to getting the support that women need right.”