Medical misogyny impacts women's health. Historically, medical studies have excluded female participants and research data that has been collected from men is then generalised to women. The gender gap in medical research, alongside overarching misogyny, results in real-life disadvantages for women. Symptoms of many common medical conditions differ between men and women but without proper investment in medical research, women will continue to disproportionately experience delayed diagnosis, overprescribing, and a failure to properly investigate symptoms.
Here in the ACT, health research is happening everyday across a number of higher education and research institutes that form part of the ACT Health ecosystem. In addition, higher education is major part of the ACT's economy and attracts people from across the country and internationally to study and research here.
Through the Better together: A strategic pionforresearch in the ACT health system 2022-2030, the ACT has an opportunity to invest in women's health research right here in the ACT and help address the gender gap in medical research while growing our health research workforce.