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Date added:July 1 2026
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Read time:4 min
Your sex and gender can impact your risk of disease, how you are treated and your long-term health. But how much do you really know about the gender gaps in health research and care? Here, Dr Hayley Guiney, head of our research and evidence team, looks at 6 gaps and how they affect women today.
Sex and gender play an important role in health – but often, they’re overlooked in health research and care. When this happens, key details can get missed and women’s health can pay the price. It’s important that women understand these issues and feel empowered to speak up and help push for change.
To help drive awareness, our 2025 National Women’s Health Survey set out to understand what women know about sex and gender issues in health. Our research revealed some key gaps in women’s knowledge.
Here are 6 true or false statements we put to the women in our survey, and the correct answers. See how many you can get right.
TRUE
In science and medicine, most research has focused on men’s bodies and biology. For a long time, women were left out of clinical trials that tested new medicines or treatments because of concerns about fertility and pregnancy risks. Researchers also thought that female hormone changes would make it harder to work out if a medicine or treatment being tested had worked.
FALSE
Most lab research has been done on male specimens, which are things like blood and tissue samples from male bodies. Although this biased practice is improving, it does continue today. Many believed that males were easier and less costly to study, and that hormone changes made female bodies less predictable – and less reliable in research.
TRUE
When seeking help for their pain, women and men have different experiences with health professionals. In 2024 for example, a Victorian Government inquiry into women’s pain found that while most women seek medical care for their pain, many have experienced dismissal and disrespect. The inquiry showed that gender bias in healthcare has led to women’s pain being downplayed and poorly treated.
FALSE
Autoimmune diseases are conditions where the immune system attacks one or more tissues or organs, causing inflammation and damage. Lupus and multiple sclerosis (MS) are different types of autoimmune diseases. About one in 10 people has an autoimmune disease, of which more than 6 out of 10 are women. It’s not fully understood why autoimmune diseases affect more women than men, but sex hormones, genetics, environmental factors and having a more active immune system may play a part.
FALSE
Women are more likely than men to experience side effects from medicines. This may be because they have smaller kidneys and more body fat, meaning medicines may linger for longer in their bodies. Women’s hormone changes and slower metabolisms may also play a role.
TRUE
Women have different heart attack symptoms to men. While they both experience chest pain most commonly, women are more likely than men to have non-chest pain symptoms, such as:
- neck pain
- jaw pain
- pain between the shoulder blades
- nausea and vomiting
- shortness of breath
- unusual tiredness (fatigue)
- a fast-beating, fluttering or pounding heart (palpitations).
Women have different symptoms because their hearts and blood vessels age differently to men’s. Instead of experiencing big artery blockages, women often have problems in their smaller blood vessels or have stiffer heart muscles.
What can you do?
Ending sex and gender bias isn’t up to one person. We need action and investment from all sorts of decision-makers, including governments and institutions. But if you’d like to make a difference, getting involved in women’s health research might be an option for you.
Research studies use volunteers to understand how people behave or think, and to test new treatments, products or information. Getting involved can help improve the health and wellbeing of women, girls and gender-diverse people across future generations.
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