More than 1.5 Billion Women Worldwide Lack Essential Health Screenings
The second annual Hologic Global Women’s Health Index reveals that over 1.5 billion women lack necessary health screenings, including cancer and diabetes. The report highlights significant barriers to women's health, including food insecurity, safety threats, and educational gaps. The average global health score was just 53 out of 100, with Taiwan leading at 70 and Afghanistan at the lowest with 22. The Index stresses the need for better preventive care, addressing emotional health, and enhancing socioeconomic equity to improve women’s wellbeing.
- Hologic partners with Gallup for a comprehensive study impacting women's health.
- The Index represents health data from 127,000 individuals, covering 94% of the world's women and girls.
- The report provides a framework for improving women's health and wellbeing through targeted interventions.
- Global average health score is only 53 out of 100, indicating widespread health issues.
- Over 1.5 billion women globally lack access to essential health screenings.
- Significant health score disparities exist, with a 22-point gap between high- and low-income countries.
Hologic Global Women’s Health Index finds widespread barriers to preventive care and a growing gap in women’s well-being between high- and low-income countries
The report, released today, identifies many barriers to preventive care for women. These hurdles include struggles to find enough food and shelter, lack of educational opportunities and threats to women’s safety. They contribute to widening gaps in women’s well-being across high- vs. low-income countries, urban vs. rural areas, and highly- vs. less-educated individuals. The barriers also fuel record-high levels of worry, stress, sadness and anger among women worldwide.
All 122 countries and territories evaluated by the Index have significant room for improvement in women’s health. The average global score was only 53 out of a possible 100, the highest score was 70 for
“The lack of progress and, in some cases, backward momentum justify an even louder wake-up call for world leaders to do more for women, whose well-being underpins the health of families, communities, societies and economies,” said
Hologic partnered with Gallup, a leading analytics firm, to create the Index. For the second annual report, approximately 127,000 people worldwide – including 66,000 women and girls aged 15 and older – were surveyed during 2021 in more than 140 languages. This immense reach means the Index represents
“We’re proud to collaborate with Hologic to enable women to tell leaders about their health needs. As we jointly work with policymakers across the continents, we emphasize the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to elevating women’s well-being,” said Gallup Managing Partner
The Index provides a framework for achieving comprehensive progress. It looks at five interlocking dimensions of women’s health: Preventive Care, Basic Needs, Opinions of Health and Safety,
Shortfalls in these fundamentals bring about challenges that hinder women from making their health a top priority. About
“As a physician who has worked with patients in different corners of the world for decades, I’ve seen firsthand how early detection of disease makes a critical difference in lifespan and quality of life for women. But when women have to choose between getting healthcare for themselves and finding the next meal for their families, they will likely deprioritize their health,” said Dr.
To learn more about the Hologic Global Women’s Health Index, visit womenshealthindex.com.
HOLOGIC GLOBAL WOMEN’S HEALTH INDEX: FAST FACTS
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What: One of the largest studies of women’s health in the world, created by global medical technology innovator Hologic and worldwide analytics leader Gallup. The second annual Hologic Global Women’s Health Index report was released on
September 21, 2022 . -
Scope: The latest report draws from a 2021 survey of 127,000 people – including 66,000 women and girls aged 15 and older – in more than 140 languages. This statistical sampling represents
94% of the world’s women and girls. -
Rankings: The Index assigns a women’s health score (from one to 100) to each of 122 countries and territories, and then ranks them. The average global score was only 53, and no country/territory scored higher than 70.
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Highest-ranking countries and territories:
Taiwan ,Latvia ,Austria ,Denmark ,Estonia ,Switzerland ,Germany ,Czech Republic ,Israel andNorway . -
Lowest-ranking countries and territories:
Afghanistan , Congo,Venezuela , Türkiye,Lebanon ,Togo ,Benin ,Ecuador ,Peru andGabon . -
U.S. placement: score of 61, which ranks the country at #23.
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Highest-ranking countries and territories:
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Essential screenings:
60% of female respondents (representing more than 1.5 billion women worldwide) said they weren’t tested in the last year for cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes or sexually transmitted diseases/infections. Only12% said they were tested for any type of cancer. - Healthcare disparities: The gap in Index scores between high- and low-income economies nearly doubled – to 22 points – between 2020 and 2021. In addition, the gap between urban vs. rural women widened to six points. As for educational disparities, the gap between women with an elementary education vs. those who completed at least four years beyond high school grew to 13 points.
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Emotional health:
43% of female respondents said they experienced worry, while41% reported feeling stress,32% reported feeling sadness and26% reported feeling anger. All these percentages are record highs since the Gallup World Poll began tracking emotional health a decade ago (and incorporated the same tracking into the Hologic Global Women’s Health Index when it began). -
Basic needs:
37% of female respondents (representing nearly 1 billion women worldwide) said they at times lacked money to buy needed food for themselves and their families, while30% (representing nearly 800 million women worldwide) said they at times lacked money for adequate shelter.
About
The company also champions women through the Hologic Global Women’s Health Index, which provides a science-backed data roadmap for improving women’s well-being, and Project Health Equality, which elevates awareness, research insights and access to quality care for underserved women.
About Gallup
Founded in 1935, Gallup provides analytics, management and educational consulting as well as the CliftonStrengths assessment. Its Gallup World Poll is the most comprehensive and farthest-reaching survey of the world, connecting with more than
SOURCE:
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220921005032/en/
Media contact:
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jane.mazur@hologic.com
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