Women's health

Advancing women’s health is fundamental to achieving universal health coverage, health equity and gender equality. Health underpins women’s quality of life and enables the realization of other human rights, supporting women’s full participation in social, economic and political life. While sexual and reproductive health and rights remain central – including access to contraception, fertility care and safe abortion – women’s health extends far beyond these areas. It encompasses physical and mental health across the entire life course, from adolescence through older age.

Women’s health outcomes are shaped by the interaction of biological and gender-related factors. Gender norms, power relations and structural inequalities influence women’s exposure to health risks, access to care, quality of services and responsiveness of health systems. As a result, women may experience diseases differently from men, present with different symptoms and have distinct care needs at different stages of life. Noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular conditions, and mental health conditions represent a growing burden, often underdiagnosed or inadequately treated. Addressing women’s health therefore requires a comprehensive, rights-based and life‑course approach that reflects women’ sbodies, diverse realities and experiences.

Women face a complex and unequal burden of health challenges shaped by social, economic and structural factors. Unpaid care responsibilities, unsafe or informal working conditions, limited decision making power and exposure to gender based violence significantly affect women’s physical and mental health. These pressures compound biological risks and contribute to poorer health outcomes across the life course.

Progress in addressing these challenges has been uneven. Gender bias in health research, data collection, service design and clinical practice has led to gaps in evidence and care. Historically, medical research and guidelines have been based largely on male bodies and men’s experiences, limiting understanding of how conditions present in women and how treatments work for them. This contributes to delayed diagnosis, inadequate treatment and lower-quality care. Bias is further intensified for women facing intersecting forms of discrimination related to age, disability, ethnicity, migration status or socioeconomic position. Women in humanitarian settings, Indigenous women, migrant women, women with disabilities and older women are often the most underserved, leaving many furthest behind.

WHO supports Member States to advance women’s health as a core component of universal health coverage, health equity and human rights, aligned with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its work contributes directly to progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 3 on health and well-being and SDG 5 on gender equality, while reinforcing commitments to non-discrimination and leaving no one behind.

WHO develops global norms, standards and evidence-based guidance to promote gender responsive, rights based and life course approaches to women’s health across a wide range of health areas. It works with countries to strengthen health systems by integrating women’s health priorities into primary health care, national health strategies and universal health coverage reforms, and by improving access to quality, affordable and respectful services for all. Strengthening data, evidence and accountability is a key focus, including promoting sex and age disaggregated data and addressing persistent evidence gaps. Recognizing the social and structural determinants of women’s health, WHO also supports action on harmful gender norms and discrimination and integrates women’s health into responses to pandemics, climate change and humanitarian crises.