A UNIVERSITY of New South Wales (UNSW) centre inaugurated last week addresses a critical health issue - the pervasive male-centric bias in medical research and care.
The bias has led to significant health disparities and suboptimal outcomes for women, girls, intersex, trans, and gender-diverse individuals.
The Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine was established by The George Institute for Global Health at UNSW in collaboration with Deakin University.
It aims to transform this one-size-fits-all approach into a system that recognises and caters to the diverse health needs of all Australians.
Highlighting the foundation of these disparities, the institute's Founding Director Prof Robyn Norton pointed out the over representation of "white men in clinical trials and the use of male cells and animals in laboratory research", has led to misdiagnoses, inappropriate treatments, and overlooked symptoms in other populations.
The Centre's mission is to integrate a sex- and gender-sensitive perspective into research and healthcare practice, thereby improving outcomes for underrepresented groups.
Deakin's Executive Dean Prof Rachel Huxley emphasised the specific challenges in addressing women's health, advocating for a broader focus beyond reproductive issues to include major conditions like heart disease which are still considered a 'man's disease'.
"Women's symptoms are often not picked up, attributed to other psychological causes, and treatment is delayed or not given at all, with serious consequences including death," said Huxley.
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