Women’s health as a profit driver: The ROI of understudied disorders

The flip side of each new discovery about women’s health is a history of research neglect. Now, as federal funding becomes increasingly precarious, some advocates, academics, and executives are appealing to another incentive. 

It’s called the profit motive. 

If disparities in women’s health were fully addressed, a 2024 World Economic Forum report estimated, by 2040 that could boost global economic productivity annually by $1 trillion. In the U.S., that would mean recovering about $300 billion in lost economic productivity.