Kearney, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, has released the inaugural [w]Health Healthcare and Life Sciences Index, establishing a critical baseline for gender equity across the global healthcare ecosystem. The report reveals that while 87% of leaders prioritize front-office integration for women’s health, only 5% of companies have fully achieved a mature, gender-responsive operating model. This gap highlights a significant disconnect between corporate awareness and the actual execution of health equity strategies, despite data showing that integrated companies are three times more likely to experience superior revenue growth.
The Index assesses maturity across six levers of change, including R&D, care delivery, and investment, and identifies Consumer Health as the frontrunner, with 55% of organizations in advanced stages of maturity. In contrast, the investment sector remains the least mature; only 30% of investment players have reached advanced stages, and fewer than 25% of funds apply a gender-lens strategy during their due diligence processes. "Integration into systems and strategy remains incomplete," noted Paula Bellostas Muguerza, Kearney’s Global Healthcare and Life Sciences lead, pointing to a persistent blind spot in decision-making fueled by the fact that women represent less than 20% of investors.
Beyond ethical considerations, the report frames the redesign of women’s health as a financial and operational imperative. Historically, medical research and guidelines have been based on male biology, leading to a legacy where women are more likely to experience misdiagnosis and poorer long-term outcomes. The [w]Health Index provides a roadmap for organizations to overhaul medical education, retune R&D for female-specific conditions, and build women-centric care pathways.