Vector Volume 11 Issue 1 - 2017

posit in Women’s Health: A New Global Agenda,
the currently narrow approach to women’s
health firstly limits opportunities to effectively
improve the health of the maximum number of
women, and secondly, discriminates against
women who do not have children.[8]
In recent years, many international advocacy
efforts have thus been made to expand this
definition, and encompass a more holistic view
of the health challenges faced by women. Such
focus areas include, but are not limited to: the
burden of NCDs in women, including mental
health; the caring roles of women; and sexual
and interpersonal violence. Additionally, the
health of women must be considered across
the whole life course. A reproductive focus
risks excluding pre-adolescent girls
and older women, all of whom face
unique challenges in navigating
their health in a climate of gender
inequity. Indeed, women who have
been through menopause have
substantially increased risk of
NCDs. Thus a focus on older women
should be an integral of a life course
approach to women’s health.
Integrating NCDs into other health programs
There are great opportunities to capitalise on
existing healthcare services to better address
the needs of women in the NCD epidemic. There
is enormous opportunity to expand existing
reproductive, communicable disease (such
as HIV and tuberculosis) and sexual health
services to incorporate NCDs. In particular,
maternal and reproductive healthcare services
are targeted at women, allowing healthcare
to be delivered in an environment that is
acceptable to, and accessible by, women and
adolescent girls. Given the unique challenges
faced by women in the NCD epidemic, these
existing services can be broadened to include
health promotion activities around NCD risk
factors, early diagnosis and screening services
(including breast and cervical cancer screening)
and referral and treatment services. This will
ensure that women are empowered to improve
the health of themselves, their families and
The impact of educating
women has multigenerational
effects due to their central
position in the community, so
improving women’s engagement
with health promotion is a high
yield intervention.
communities. One such approach might be
to follow up women with gestational diabetes
after birth and to provide screening checks and
education around good nutrition for mothers
and children in order to prevent the development
of diabetes. There is growing evidence for the
feasibility and effectiveness of health system
integration to prevent and control NCDs. [9,10]
Women in medical research
There is scope for the broader scientific and
research community to ensure that women are
equally represented in medical research. It is
increasingly apparent that NCDs do not affect
men and women equally. Women who smoke
have a 25% greater relative risk of ischaemic
heart disease than men who
smoke.[11] Women suffer
worse cardiovascular disease
as a consequence of type 2
diabetes than men,[12] and
women with type 1 diabetes
have a roughly 40% greater risk
of all-cause mortality than men.
[13] However, taking a focused
biomedical approach is not
sufficient to address the burden of NCDs in
women. Medical research must also consider
the social and cultural effects of gender
inequity in order to fully appreciate the health
outcomes of women with NCDs. Increasing
attention to gender-disaggregated of research
data has been recognised in the Sustainable
Development Goals as an important tool for
discovering these important gender disparities
in illness.[14]
Engaging women at every level
Lastly, increasing female participation in
decision-making will ensure the challenges
faced by women are reflected in policies
for health and sustainable development.
Participation happens at every level. In local
communities, women are attuned to the needs of
other people, and as evident above, make many
of the health related decisions in the community.
There is a huge opportunity to harness their
strength and knowledge to be a driving force
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