Where is the investment in Women's Health?
A famous scientist, Enrico Fermi, when discussing aliens, made the statement ‘where is everyone?’. It is known as the Fermi Paradox, as given the overwhelming evidence there should be aliens everywhere.
In a similar manner when it comes to women’s health and the investment in women’s health we could ask similar questions, given the following:
- Only 2% of VC’s invest in women’s health, yet women represent 51% of the population;
- Historically, research into human biology has been predominantly based on the male anatomy. This has been a cause of wrongful or lack of diagnosis in some cardiovascular diseases in women.
So the question is, ‘where is all the investment in women’s health’. The answer to the question is an embarrassing response, ‘it’s coming’, I think!
There are some new initiatives, like the Women’s Health Innovation Summit (WHIS), which has now been going for 6 years, the McKinsey Report, 2024, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
However, given that Women lead start-ups are 68% more likely to succeed than Male led start-ups, it is still very confusing that the investment in women’s health is not anywhere near where it should be.
So I will close on the new Women’s Paradox; ‘where is the investment in women’s health?’