Student Comment: Not Really a Battle of the Sexes: Women’s Health Agenda Advocates Global Equality in Medical Research Trials and Drug Administration

The New Women’s Health Agenda seeks to close the discriminatory gap between men’s and women’s medical treatment around the world. Often, women’s reproductive issues are the focus of medical studies in which women are involved; however, chronic diseases are quickly becoming a high health risk for the female population around the world. This comment explores the past, present, and future of women’s global health. Throughout history, women have been prevented from participating in clinical trials for reproductive protection reasons. The problem arises after men have successfully responded to treatment because the medication is then administered to both men and women. Women are still facing numerous challenges in regards to proper healthcare today. Women today are experiencing an increase in mental health diseases and chronic diseases such as heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Women of color and of low socioeconomic status also face their own unique challenges. This comment argues importance of a global healthcare system in which men and women are treated as biologically different, but socially and psychologically equal