Gender Health Gap: Nearly two thirds of women feel their health isn't taken seriously

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00:00 Hi, I'm Sarah McCann, Transwriter here at National World, and today we are going to be talking about

00:04 the gender health gap. Now, the UK has the largest gender health gap in any of the G20 countries,

00:11 and more shockingly, it has the 12th largest gender health gap in the world. Now, new research

00:17 from Benedin Health has discovered that the gender health gap in the UK is remaining stagnant,

00:23 as women's health issues are not treated in the same urgency as men's. Research like this is

00:28 really important because it's a great big loud drum saying it's not just you, look at the figures.

00:34 We have the worst gender health gap within the G20 countries. That's absolutely shocking. That's

00:43 not good enough, but it's a very, very quiet problem. I mean, the research done by Benedin

00:48 Health shows that actually 72% of women don't even know that the gender health gap exists,

00:56 and that has a huge impact because a woman will go to her GP or she'll be at work and she's having

01:02 problems and she might not realise that in fact it's not her, she's not going crazy, but in fact

01:07 the system isn't always working for you. So let's say that she goes to her GP and she gets sent home,

01:13 she might go again. If she's really bold, she might get sent home again, and that is significant.

01:20 You know, a problem that could be fixed relatively easy within three months if you had a quick

01:24 diagnosis. A year later, that might be a very different diagnosis. That's serious. I mean,

01:29 it can be life and death. The recorder believes that the UK health system favours men over women,

01:35 and this is having an impact on women feeling able to go forward or talk to their GP if they do have

01:40 an issue, with over a third stating that they would put off seeking medical treatment due to

01:45 anxiety or embarrassment. So women will go to the GP or they won't go to the GP because it

01:51 would be a burden. It needs a great big loud campaign like the one by Benazin Health to say,

01:58 look, this is a big problem. Okay, it's a huge problem. And at work, if a woman doesn't feel

02:04 like her manager's going to respond well, maybe she'll feel like, oh, if he thinks I'm going,

02:07 or she thinks I'm going through the perimenopause, the menopause, I won't get put up for promotion.

02:12 I won't be seen as a secure option. So you could miss out on a huge, you know, climbing up that

02:19 ladder is hard enough. But if people think, oh, maybe I have brain fog, or maybe I might take a

02:23 few days off. So all of this is done in silence. But it's not to anyone listening, by the way,

02:30 it's not just you. Nearly two thirds of women believe that their health is not taken seriously,

02:36 while another third believe that the reason behind this is their gender. More than half reported

02:42 having a negative experience with a medical professional, whilst a third noted having a

02:47 delayed diagnosis, or an incorrect diagnosis. Shockingly, over a quarter also stated that they

02:53 had had instances where they had been given incorrect medication. So in terms of incorrect

02:59 medications, there needs to be more research that women need to be included more in research

03:06 that's done particularly on medications and just general looking more into women's health

03:13 in general. And then in terms of just accessing healthcare and making sure that women are aware

03:20 of what they are entitled to what they can access as well. So Benazen Health provides 24/7

03:27 GP access. We know 35% of women who were included in this research complained that they were

03:33 receiving a late diagnosis. So certainly having access to more rapid diagnostics, as we spoke

03:39 about, there can be some conditions like endometriosis, which can take many, many, many

03:43 appointments, GP appointments, that that's time off work before they're referred before they they

03:49 receive any diagnosis. And the gender health gap is having a huge impact on women excelling in the

03:54 workplace. The research discovered that on average, women will experience more than nine days of

03:59 sickness in a year. And out of two to five women surveyed stated that they had heard colleagues

04:05 discuss another female's health condition in a derogatory manner. Anything that affects women

04:10 in that way is going to have a significant impact on their ability to work to be able to concentrate

04:17 and focus in their work. And it does actually, unfortunately, cause a lot of women to have to

04:23 take time away from work as well, which costs the economy, a large amount of money. And we know also

04:29 that women, 42% of women that we researched that we studied in this research, said that they found

04:37 it quite difficult to be able to talk to their employer about difficulties of their health at

04:44 work. So policies within the workplace that support women so that they don't have to fight for it when

04:49 that happens. Because when it does happen, if you do suffer from endometriosis, excruciating pain,

04:54 if you do suffer pregnancy loss, or any complications during pregnancy, it's the last,

04:59 it's actually the last moment that you feel strong enough to fight for something, to advocate for

05:05 yourself. So to know that those policies are in place to look after vulnerable women, actually,

05:10 knowing that you can go to your managers, knowing that you can go to your HR manager,

05:16 the powers that be and say, I'm having this particular symptom today. And you're going to

05:21 get understanding because they understand it's a momentary thing. It doesn't mean that you're not

05:25 unable to do your job and you have to be fired. But it's just a momentary requirement for a bit

05:30 of compassion and a bit of flexibility. That is a game changer for that. Think about how many women

05:37 you're losing from the workforce just at the point at which they are being able to make strong, wise,

05:42 decisive moves for your company. Don't you want those women in your workforce? Yeah, so to lose

05:48 them costs the economy millions, millions, and it's unnecessary to stress for women.

05:54 The gender health gap is having a huge impact on the lives of women. And judging by the latest

06:01 research from Bennedin Health, it doesn't look like that's going to be changing for women in the

06:05 UK anytime soon.

06:07 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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