Ladies First: An Examination of the Women’s Health Device Industry

For quite a few decades, healthcare products and solutions have been designed, developed, and delivered with a lack of consideration for the fact that healthcare needs for men and women are different in terms of physiological factors. The way women metabolize drugs is fundamentally different compared to men. This necessitates the need to include these factors during clinical research and trials and stimulates the need for effective women’s health devices.

Initially, women’s healthcare had been primarily centered around maternal and childcare, fertility, and family planning. Women constitute almost 50 percent of the total world population and the economic burden for women’s diseases reached over $500 billion as of April 2018. Yet women’s health makes up only about 4 percent of total R&D funding for healthcare products and services.

People all over the world are living longer. In fact, it is estimated the global population aged 60 years or more will reach 2 billion by 2050 from 900 million in 2015. Statistically, nearly 55 percent of people aged 60 or more are women. Higher occurrence of various chronic and infectious diseases, particularly among older women, is accelerating the demand for effective health products, devices, and tech.

Growing awareness of these factors is encouraging healthcare organizations to better serve women by developing products and solutions specific to their medical needs. It is estimated the global women’s health device market size will hit $42.5 billion by 2025.

Rising Prevalence of Different Health Conditions Among Women

Cancer: Breast cancer is among the most commonly occurring cancers among women, affecting over 2.1 million worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It also results in the greatest number of cancer-related fatalities among women. WHO reports cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women. In 2018, close to 570,000 new cases were recorded, which equals nearly 6.6 percent of all female cancers.

Early detection is the key to improving cancers and increasing the chances of survival. Early diagnosis and screening are two crucial strategies for early detection of cancers, which require effective treatment options and present key opportunities for health device manufacturers.

Osteoporosis: Osteoporosis is one of the most prevalent health conditions in both men and women, and can occur at any age. It is a condition in which bones become thin and porous, increasing the risk of fractures. Osteoporosis is estimated to impact over 200 million women globally.

However, the prevalence of osteoporosis is comparatively greater in women. Worldwide, one in three women aged 50 or more experience osteoporotic fractures compared to one in five men aged over 50.

Maternal deaths: Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are one of the leading causes of death among women of reproductive age in emerging economies. According to the WHO, in 2017, almost 295,000 women globally died of maternal causes, which equals approximately 808 women every day.

Most complications that occur during pregnancy are preventable or treatable. This creates the need for safe and effective healthcare products and devices for proper prenatal and postnatal care.

Heart diseases: Heart diseases are one of the leading causes of death for women. Experts suggest women and men experience heart diseases differently. For instance, while men experience more heart attacks than men, women have a higher death rate due to heart attacks.

Moreover, chest pain or chest pressure is considered a primary symptom for heart attack. However, women may experience heart attacks without feeling any chest pain.

HIV/AIDS: Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV is a virus that causes AIDS and disrupts the body’s ability to fight infections. Detected about three decades ago, the virus spread widely in a short duration of time has become a public health priority in majority of countries.

As of 2018, there were approximately 18.8 million women (aged 15 or more) living with HIV, which makes up 52 percent of all adults with HIV.

How Will the Advent of Femtech Impact Women’s Health Device Industry Trends? 
Female technology or femtech refers to the range of technology-based products, services, software, and diagnostics targeted at women’s health. This includes pregnancy and nursing care, reproductive health, general healthcare, and much more. Historically, the male body has been considered as the standard while developing medicines and healthcare solutions.

Femtech aims to change this idea with the use of new emerging technologies such as AI, tracking wearables, mobile applications, and other non-invasive hardware to better address the health needs of women. The women’s health device industry is poised to witness remarkable transformation with the adoption of intelligent technologies and concepts.

Female technology startups are aiming to tap into various different sectors of female healthcare. These firms are looking to develop tracking sensors and devices, majorly for maternal and childcare, fertility, menstrual cycles, and family planning while others are exploring ways to develop non-invasive reproductive health tech.

For instance, Berlin-based femtech startup Inne unveiled a hormone-tracking subscription-based product for natural contraception and fertility tracking this past October. The company plans to launch the product commercially in Q1 2020. The product indicates a positive step towards the evolution of women’s health devices.

As the global population becomes more open-minded about women’s health and the focus gradually shifts from a patient-doctor based approach to a more individual based one, innovative female technologies will continue to make an impact in the global healthcare sector. Constant R&D efforts are anticipated to boost the scope of femtech beyond wearables and tracking devices to tackling autoimmune diseases in women.

Find more information about the market here.

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A graduate in electronics and telecommunication engineering, Hrishikesh Kadam is a graduate in electronics and telecommunication engineering. Driven by a never-ending passion for content creation combined with experience in writing personal blogs, Hrishikesh blends his technical knowledge and expertise to pen down articles for numerous online portals.