The Hologic Global Women’s Health Index reveals how much work we have to do to champion women.
If you care about women’s health, listen up: Hologic just released the second annual report for its Global Women’s Health Index, which uses extensive survey data from around the world to assess women’s health and well-being. The results, which span 122 countries and represent the experiences of 94 percent of the world’s women and girls aged 15 or older, are alarming.
The survey found that 2.3 billion women hadn’t been screened for any type of cancer in the last year, and 1.2 billion women hadn’t spoken to any sort of healthcare professional. This number is especially upsetting given that one of the Index’s main findings is a correlation between women regularly seeing a healthcare professional and an added two years to their life expectancy. “The data from the Hologic Global Women’s Health Index is sobering,” says Susan Harvey, MD, vice president of Worldwide Medical Affairs at Hologic. “Every single country has work to do.”
While these results might make you feel hopeless, Dr. Harvey reminds us of the reason why Hologic and analytics expert Gallup spearheaded this project in the first place: “What you don’t measure, you can’t change or improve.” Just knowing these numbers can have a huge impact on how both individuals and governments approach the issue of women’s health and should help motivate policymakers to take action.
On an individual level, the hope is that women use this data as a rallying cry to petition lawmakers to do better, support each other, and fully empower themselves to make preventive care a top priority in their own lives. “As you reflect on this,” says Dr. Harvey, “share it with your friends. Share it with your family. Find out what resources are available in your community [and] think about others in your community who have less advantage…We have to be active.”
