"The healthier women are, the healthier society is. That’s a fact," says Siemens Healthineers Managing Board Member Elisabeth Staudinger. "But did you know that women spend 25 percent more of their lives in poor health than men do – even though they live longer? I didn’t until recently, so I’m on a mission to find out more about how gender matters in healthcare."

Elisabeth is passionate about promoting diversity and equity while fostering inclusion. "Let’s combine our knowledge, creativity, and inspiration to achieve breakthroughs that will benefit society as whole," she suggests.

For Elisabeth, the gender health burden cannot be overstated, as it leads to significant challenges and continues to widen gender and socio-economic gaps. Elisabeth says that women’s health generally continues to be underfunded, under-researched, and undervalued. As a proud board member of the World Economic Forum's Global Alliance for Women's Health and an advocate for women's health, the topic is close to Elisabeth's heart. 

In a series of thought-leadership articles for LinkedIn, Elisabeth explores factors that have widened the gender health gap and discusses pioneering innovations aiming to address it.

Assessing inequalities in women's health

Elisabeth assesses the inequalities and opportunities in women’s health, reflecting on the factors that put women at a disadvantage. Elisabeth suggests that this health gap not only affects individuals, but also the wider economy. Considering a society's health status significantly contributes to overall growth and prosperity.

"Although equality between men and women is a recognized human right, millions of women worldwide are often underestimated and suppressed, frequently with serious consequences for their health. There are many reasons for this situation – cultural, economic, political, and of course, simple biological differences between men and women. That’s why there are no easy answers and no one-size-fits-all solution to the global challenge," says Elisabeth.

"Beyond the positive societal impacts of healthier women, including more progression in education and inter-generational benefits, improving women’s health would also enable women to participate more actively in the workforce," adds Elisabeth.

Read Elisabeth's article Mind the Gap: Assessing inequalities and opportunities in women’s health.

Avoiding gender bias in Artificial Intelligence

In a further article from Elisabeth, she explores the gender health gap and takes a closer look at the existing gaps and explores available opportunities.

Elisabeth explores how a one-size-fits-all approach has actually widened the health gap between men and women.

Elisabeth also shares her thoughts on how we can avoid repeating the same gender-bias mistakes of the past as we go into an AI-driven future.

"AI is a crucial innovation in medical technology. To properly develop its full potential here, it must take gender differences into account. The background: Training data for AI naturally draws on past cases and records. If this medical data was biased – for example, favoring more cases of men than women or data from wealthy countries, or being limited to specific ethnic groups – there’s a risk of replicating this bias into the future," explains Elisabeth.

"Siemens Healthineers is committed to solving system-wide challenges in healthcare and enabling equal access to healthcare for everyone, everywhere. In doing so, we focus on leveraging our strategic strengths – patient twinning, precision therapy, and, of course, digitalization, data, and AI. This is how we pursue our corporate purpose: We pioneer breakthroughs in healthcare. For everyone. Everywhere. Sustainably," says Elisabeth.

Read Elisabeth's article Mind the difference: How to avoid gender bias in AI.

Celebrating initiatives improving women's health

While Elisabeth previously examined how and why women have been neglected in healthcare, a further article from Elisabeth focuses on concrete solutions that are already helping to narrow the health gap between women and men.

Elisabeth looks at important successes and promising innovations that are improving women’s health worldwide. For example, how a simple drape is not just a piece of material but a life-saving tool in childbirth, how a bracelet is not just an accessory but a solution for managing hot flashes, how we are coming closer to seeing a world without cervical cancer.

"Women’s health can be fundamentally improved. Political will and declarations are important, but not enough: We need other stakeholders to increase awareness and work for the change: the patients themselves, NGOs, industry, regulatory bodies, scientific research, and technical innovation. It doesn't always have to be the Nobel Prize in Medicine to make a difference in women’s health – encouraging, isn’t it?" says Elisabeth.

Read Elisabeth's article Beyond the Nobel: Small and Prized Ideas Revolutionizing Women's Health.

Enjoy a pioneering healthcare career at Siemens Healthineers

Elisabeth is one of many women using their expertise to help Siemens Healthineers pioneer breakthroughs in healthcare, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to help improve people’s lives around the world.

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