2023-11-05 20:00:00
Haarlem- The Netherlands is set to celebrate its first National Women’s Health Day on Saturday, May 25, 2024. This landmark event is organized by the Voices for Women Foundation, an initiative aimed at raising awareness and addressing the often overlooked health concerns faced by women.
The campaign advocates for gender-specific medical care, highlighting the fact that women in the country still face unnecessary deaths due to misdiagnosis. Mirjam Kaijer, the initiator and director of Voices for Women, stresses the urgent need for this day, noting that women’s illnesses manifest differently than those of men. Shockingly, 80% of all patients with unexplained health complaints are women.
On National Women’s Health Day, women will join hands with healthcare professionals, scientists, patient organizations, and women’s networks to make their voices heard. The event aims to offer support, share knowledge, and promote gender-specific care. Participants can look forward to a range of informative lectures, workshops, and performances by artists. The event will be hosted by Bridget Maasland and Tanja Jess.
One of the key issues to be addressed is the prevalence of wrong diagnoses in women’s health. Currently, medical knowledge in the Netherlands is predominantly based on the male body, leading to detrimental consequences for female patients. Women not only suffer from side effects of medications at a higher rate than men, but heart attacks in women are frequently missed. Additionally, women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders, and the majority of people with autoimmune diseases are women.
Mirjam Kaijer emphasizes the major knowledge gap in women’s health, which has left countless women searching for the right diagnosis for years. Doctors also face challenges in this field and, rather than being held solely responsible, they are increasingly joining the Voices for Women Foundation.
National Women’s Health Day is set to become an annual event aimed at unifying efforts to improve women’s medical care. Mirjam Kaijer sees this day as potentially marking the beginning of an important change in women’s medicine. The aim is to continue advocating until every woman receives the right medical care.
For more information about National Women’s Health Day, visit their website.]
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