‘Women should be made a focus’: Vic grants program makes step toward ending medical misogyny

Medical misogyny has for years labelled women “too unreliable to study”, but now dedicated research on women’s health in Victoria could hold the key to a breakthrough.

A new grants program to help boost women’s health research in Victoria will launch on Monday.

On offer is a share of $1.5 million for research initiatives with a focus on sex and gender comparisons and underfunded or under-researched conditions impacting women.

It is part of the Victorian Government’s Women’s Health Research Catalyst Grants program for women’s medical research.

“For too long, medical misogyny has labelled women too unreliable to study due to fluctuating hormones — but this shouldn’t mean we are excluded, we should be made a focus because of these biological differences,” Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said.

The grants are between $50,000 and $150,000 and will be awarded for one-year research projects.

The grants will fund research into women’s sexual and reproductive health, cardiovascular health, oncology, orthopaedics and chronic pain. Picture: Supplied

They are open to eligible Victorian research teams and key areas of interest will include women’s sexual and reproductive health, cardiovascular health, oncology, orthopaedics and chronic pain.

The National Women’s Health Summit held in Canberra last year put women’s experience of medical misogyny under the microscope after it was found two in three Australian women reported health care-related bias and discrimination.

Women told the summit that common aspects of care in which they experienced gender bias were in relation to diagnosis and treatment.

In August the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Department of Health and Aged Care released a joint statement recommending sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation be routinely considered in health and medical research in Australia.

This, they said, was essential to help improve health outcomes.

The National Women’s Health Strategy 2020-2030 also found that at all stages of life women are at greater risk of ill health than men.

It said women lived longer on average than men, experienced chronic health conditions at higher rates and experienced more poor mental health.

It also found women had specific sexual and reproductive health needs that changed over their lives and that these can impact or exacerbate other health conditions.

“Many medical conditions unique to women or those that affect us differently or disproportionately, haven’t received the funding or focus they should — these grants will help Victorian women get the care they deserve,” Ms Thomas said.

For more information on the Women’s Health Research Catalyst Grants visit health.vic.gov.au/catalyst-grants-womens-health-research-priorities

Originally published as ‘Women should be made a focus’: Vic grants program makes step toward ending medical misogyny