“Investments addressing the women’s health gap could add years to life and life to years – and potentially boost the global economy by $1 trillion annually by 2040.”1
This quote is from a report from the World Economic Forum on women’s health in 2024. The report highlights that although women live, on average, longer than men, women spend much more time in poor health and experiencing pain and disability. This not only diminishes quality of life but also, which is important to the World Economic Forum, reduces the ability of women to participate fully and productively in the workforce.
The report lists 10 women’s health conditions that contribute to more than half of this economic impact, and migraine is number three on the list (behind premenstrual syndrome and depressive disorders). If migraine in women could be addressed, this has the potential to contribute $80 billion to the global economy.
The reasons for this health gap are historic but can be overcome. Research into human biology, disease and treatments has traditionally been on male bodies and male laboratory animals, with female sex-based differences seen as a nuisance or a barrier rather than crucial for developing treatments that work for women. Data collection and investment into research on women’s conditions is poor. Women’s conditions are often overlooked and undertreated in healthcare settings.
Migraine is a case in point. At the Neurological Foundation’s event in March on Managing migraine in Aotearoa, Dr Michael Garelja, a neuroscientist researching calcitonin gene-related receptors involved in migraine disease, noted that most of the mouse models used in the labs were of male mice, even though migraine is more common in women and female hormones are known to influence the disease. It’s hard to fathom but means that we understand far less than we should about the female brain and the effects of drugs on women.
Underinvestment in migraine research is well documented2,3 and in New Zealand, we had no recent data on migraine prevalence by ethnicity until Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand requested survey results from 2013/14 from the Ministry of Health and asked for questions about migraine to be repeated in 2023/24. And we know from our own research that many people with migraine in Aotearoa can find it difficult to get a timely diagnosis and effective treatment.
This is why three key pillars of our work at Migraine Foundation are Information, Research and Awareness & Advocacy. We need data and research to fill the huge gaps in what we know about migraine disease. We need better treatments and health care for women and supportive, accommodating workplaces.
Better migraine treatment is not only good for people with migraine, it’s good for society. It’s good for the world.
Read more about the report here.
References
1. World Economic Forum & McKinsey Health Institute. Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies. Insight Report. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Closing_the_Women%E2%80%99s_Health_Gap_2024.pdf (2024).
2. Mirin, A. A. Gender Disparity in the Funding of Diseases by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. J Womens Health 30, 956–963 (2021).
3. Olesen, J., Lekander, I., Andlin-Sobocki, P., Jönsson, B. & Olesen, J. Funding of headache research in Europe. Cephalalgia 27, 995–999 (2007).
