Across every stage of life, billions of women face chronic health challenges that are often overlooked. From migraine and headache disorders to cardiovascular disease and blood health conditions, the burden of noncommunicable diseases on women are widespread and deeply impactful. Evidence consistently shows that prioritizing wellness through prevention, timely screening, and early-stage treatment leads to better health outcomes. For women, early intervention has an even greater impact, resulting in not only healthier women, but also stronger families, workplaces, and communities. When women are well, the benefits extend far beyond the individual.
The Partnership for Women’s Wellness, or PWW, was established to advance an “early is better” approach to women’s health. PWW works alongside chronic condition stakeholders, including clinical experts and patient advocates across disease states and conditions, to encourage policymakers and health systems to prioritize prevention, accessible screening and early-stage diagnosis and treatment.
In Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Africa, PWW convenes stakeholders to identify unmet needs and foster collaboration on shared priorities. PWW has identified eight (8) focused areas where women’s wellness may be advanced through timely, holistic and integrated care at the primary and community levels.
Blood Health
Blood health remains a foundational yet often neglected aspect of women’s wellness. Conditions such as anemia, iron deficiency, and bleeding disorders affect are widespread and can significantly limit energy, productivity, and overall quality of life. Nearly one in three women aged 15 to 49 worldwide is anemic, with rates rising sharply during pregnancy.
For women living with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease or inflammatory conditions, the risk for anemia becomes even higher and more complex. These conditions can trigger “anemia of chronic conditions,” which worsens existing vulnerabilities and creates additional health challenges.
The disproportionate burden of blood conditions on women underscores the urgent need for health systems to prioritize routine screening for anemia and related conditions, along with timely diagnosis and treatment.
Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic
Cardio-kidney-metabolic, also known as CKM conditions, remains the leading cause of mortality among women, accounting for nearly one‑third of all deaths each year. Women often present with symptoms that differ from men, contributing to misdiagnosis and delays in both diagnosis and treatment. Women are also disproportionately affected due to a combination of higher mortality rates, unique biological risk factors, delayed or insufficient care, and systemic inequities in research and health‑care delivery.
Prioritizing prevention, ensuring access to appropriate screening, and early-stage diagnosis and treatment of CKM conditions can significantly reduce illness, disability and death while lowering long-term health care costs.
Maternal Health
Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Although each stage of maternal health should be positive, the global rates of maternal mortality are high. Data shows that 92 percent of all maternal deaths occurred in low and lower-middle-income countries, and most are preventable with timely, quality care.
An early, preventive approach is essential to improving maternal outcomes. Prioritizing access to prenatal care, routine screening, early diagnosis of complications, and timely treatment can save lives, protect long-term health and reduce disparities. Strengthening maternal health early not only supports healthier pregnancies and birth, but also contributes to stronger families, communities and health systems globally.
Mental Health
More than one billion people worldwide live with mental health disorders, and women are disproportionately impacted. Anxiety and depression are common, influenced by hormonal changes and major life transitions.
Early detection is essential to improving women’s mental health outcomes. Prioritizing prevention, early identification of mental health conditions, and timely access to appropriate care can reduce severity, improve quality of life, and lessen long-term social and economic impacts. Early action not only supports women’s well-being, but also strengthens families, workplaces and communities by allowing women to maintain stability, productivity and overall health across life stages.
Migraine and Headache Disorders
Headache disorders are among the most common neurological conditions worldwide, with migraine standing out as a leading cause of disability. Migraine is three times more common in women than men and affects one in four women, often during peak childbearing and working years, creating significant impacts on health, family life, and economic stability.
Delayed diagnosis and inconsistent access to care results in pain, a deteriorating quality of life, disability and lost productivity in the form of absenteeism – costing billions globally and diminishing women’s full participation in the workforce. A preventative approach to migraine and headache disorders improves outcomes for women. Access to screening and timely treatment reduces disease burden, improves quality of life, resulting in far reaching societal and economic impacts.
Healthy Aging
Healthy aging is a priority for women, yet many conditions that emerge later in life often go unnoticed until they already progressed. For example, an estimated 200 million women live with osteoporosis, and one in three women over age 50 is expected to experience a fracture related to the condition, a number that will continue to grow as populations age and women live longer lives.
Whether managing bone health, cardiovascular changes, cognitive well-being or other age-related concerns, prioritizing early detection and treatment of these conditions supports healthier aging and helps maintain independence and quality of life.
Obesity
Obesity rates continue to rise around the world, with women being at greater risk. Driven by biological and hormonal differences, high rates of obesity also increase the risk of women developing Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease and rheumatic musculoskeletal conditions. Yet, low awareness, stigma and limited access to primary and community-based care often prevent women from receiving treatment.
Prioritizing prevention and treatment of obesity can reduce risks of comorbid conditions, improve long-term health outcomes, and lessen the broader societal and economic costs. Addressing obesity early in women’s lives not only supports individual health, but also strengthens families, communities, and health systems over time.
Inflammation – Rheumatic, IBD, Skin
Immune-mediated inflammatory conditions including chronic rhematic diseases, inflammatory skin conditions and inflammatory bowel diseases often affect women at higher rates and with more complex symptoms. Rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and Sjögren’s disease frequently occur more often in women and can lead to chronic pain, mobility limitation and fatigue.
Early intervention of inflammatory conditions improves the quality of life and can change the disease course, helping to prevent chronic complications, optimize therapeutic response and promote sustained health and functional independence.
Why Women’s Wellness
Women have always been central to a society’s success. Today, their contributions in the workforce and leadership across all sectors –from government to the economy and civil society – are more apparent than ever. Yet, for too long health systems have not prioritized women’s wellness. PWW serves as a hub for diverse chronic disease stakeholders to raise awareness of conditions that disproportionately affect women and to advance prevention and early-stage diagnosis and treatment on noncommunicable diseases. Through amplifying the “early is better” approach, PWW seeks to build stronger, healthier and more prosperous families, communities, and societies.