Gender 'not being addressed' in healthcare

The issue of gender is not being adequately addressed by the health services, a prominent woman's health group has claimed.

The Women's Health Council (WHC) says whether you are a man or a woman significantly determines the symptoms you experience, how you react to them, and how the medical services treat you.

The WHC says although this is starting to be recognised in theory, it does not translate into practice at policy and service level.

In its annual report for 2004 published today, the council claimed health policies and services in Ireland were slow to recognise and address these gender differences.

Director of the WHC Geraldine Luddy said: "Women as a group not only experience different types of health issues than men, they also experience the same health issues differently than men."

She said: "This situation must be rectified and we are hopeful that the Department of Health and Health Service Executive will adopt a new strategic approach which really takes gender into consideration at all stages of health assessment and treatment".

The report highlights how cardiovascular disease - despite its prevalence among women - is still considered a male disease. "Over their lifetimes women are as affected as men by the disease, and have high rates of the disease at older ages," the report says.

It says women can have quite different symptoms of disease than men: "Something the literature describes as women's 'atypical' experience of heart disease, with men's symptoms being perceived as 'normal'."