Health disparities between men and women do not originate solely in their biological characteristics, but are also influenced by various social factors and the type of medical care they receive. Addressing aspects such as self-assessment of health, social practices and susceptibility to certain diseases is essential to promote general well-being Women’s.
With this objective the project arises LOOKwhich seeks to improve clinical practice and make medical care more equitable between women and men. This project, pioneering in Spain, is promoted by Organon, under the coordination of professor Maria Teresa Ruiz Canteroprofessor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Alicante.
This week the presentation of the document “MIRADA: A new vision in the healthcare model towards health with perspective” was held in Madrid. An event that has had the institutional presence of Pedro Gullóngeneral director of Public Health and Health Equity, Ruiz Canterocoordinator of MIRADA and Juan VeraCEO of Organon.
Ruiz Cantero: “This document champions a different look at the comprehensive health needs of women”
“This document, born from the consensus of a group of experts, champions a different view of the needs of comprehensive health Women’s. Every change in healthcare has a multiplier effect in women’s health,” Ruiz Cantero pointed out.
And, as explained in the document, differences by sex refer to inescapable biological differences. On the other hand, gender inequalities refer to avoidable differences between men and women. In these, gender-based social determinants of health join clinical biases: since they are modifiable, it is unfair for them to persist.
“In this sense, the role of health professionals is fundamental. Perfect the healthcare and adjust the protocols in a personalized way, turn these professionals into engines for the continuous improvement in health care,” adds the MIRADA coordinator.
In this context, Pedro Gullóngeneral director of Public Health and Health Equity in the Ministry of Health, elaborated on this idea at the closing of the MIRADA presentation: “We have a historical debt from the health system in relation to the gender perspective for a system that does not increase and even reduce the gender gap in health. Projects like MIRADA help us rethink healthcare so that our healthcare system (and our health) is more equitable and fair to gender inequalities.”
Pedro Gullón: “We have a historical debt from the health system in relation to the gender perspective”
In the first table of the meeting, presented under the name “Comprehensive look at prevention and diagnosis: towards equitable health”, the experts highlighted the importance of paying attention to therapeutic areas less studied in the female population and that, however, affect them to the same extent as men.
“Advancing equity requires focusing on differences and inequalities in health. Mirada helps us build a more equal care and to favor change. It awakens our conscience, it helps us break down barriers, improve scientific development and improve the quality of life of women,” explained Dr. Maria Estrella Lopez Pardodeputy director of Humanization, Quality and Attention to Citizens of the Ferrol Health Area in the Galician Health Service (SERGAS).
During the second round table, entitled “Looking to the future: treatment and follow-up with a gender perspective”, the experts focused on these two phases of the route assistance. Regarding treatment, the speakers agreed that an approach should be adopted that takes into account the sex and age of the person along with their life context, since these factors can produce inequity gender regarding the choice of treatment.
While, in terms of follow-up, the speakers agreed that, although women usually be more receptive to support, they have difficulties attending regular appointments, due to circumstances such as caring for family members or lack of autonomy in decision-making. In this sense, telemedicine and home care, or consult women What are their usual schedules and commitments, were some of the proposals for improvement in the face of this social and health reality.
López Pardo: “Advancing equity requires focusing on differences and inequalities in health”
The MIRADA Document proposes recommendations to improve health care that include awarenesstraining of professionals, optimization of care circuits and consideration of differences in the response to medications between genders, highlighting that small changes in clinical practice can generate significant results.
Along these lines, the pharmacist Hector Castro Bernardinoformer president of the Official College of Pharmacists of A Coruña and also a member of the group of experts, stated in the second table that his involvement in MIRADA “has been necessary to be able to incorporate gender awareness into daily practice, not only from scientific evidence , but also from care and social coherence.”
Likewise, Dr. María Jesús Cancelo Hidalgodeputy director of the Department of Surgery and Medical and Social Sciences at the University of Alcalá and Head of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Service at the University Hospital of Guadalajara, spoke at the second table highlighting how MIRADA is “a wake-up call, made from different sectors, for the improvement and equity of assistance and women’s health research.
Juan Vera: “By working together we can generate real changes for women”
One of the most outstanding ideas of MIRADA is the importance of collaboration between health professionals, administration, patients and companies in the sector. This is precisely one of the points that the general director of Organon in Spain and Portugal pointed out in his speech.
“Organon’s purpose is to improve the comprehensive health of women, and to achieve this we believe in promoting health with perspectiveand in collaboration between all health agents, because only in this way, working together, will we be able to generate real changes for women, and, therefore, for the entire society,” says Vera.