While longer life expectancies for men and women have been a societal success story, this is not the full picture. Despite living longer than men, women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health. Health burdens have a heavy impact on women’s lives, with ripple effects for broader society. To address these issues, the World Economic Forum and the McKinsey Health Institute have released a new insight report as part of the Forum's Women’s Health Initiative.

The report addresses the root causes of the women’s health gap (focused on science, data, care delivery and investment) and charts a number of ways forward to close this gap – from incentivizing new financing models to investing in women-centric research and implementing more inclusive health policies.

Addressing the women’s health gap could potentially boost the global economy by at least $1 trillion annually by 2040. Investing in women's health – which is more than just sexual or reproductive health – is therefore not only a matter of health equity, but a chance to help women have expanded workforce participation. Most importantly, it would help them live healthier lives.