Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Women in the UK reportedly spend three more years in ill health and disability than men, reflecting systemic biases in a healthcare model historically oriented around male physiology and needs. To address this, research and development in women’s health topics including cancers and endometriosis have been prioritised in UK government women’s health strategies and by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE, England) forward view. This study evaluated the impact of women’s health strategy implementations on health technology assessments (HTAs) in indications only affecting women.
METHODS: All HTAs published up to 31.05.2025 in indications that only affect women were identified from the NICE and Scottish Medicines consortium (SMC) websites. Date, recommendation, commercial arrangement and indication were reviewed.
RESULTS: Thirty-eight HTAs were identified, of which 61% were completed after the launch of women’s health strategies (August 2022 in England, August 2021 in Scotland). All post-implementation HTAs received positive recommendations, versus pre-implementation positive recommendation rates of 75% (6/8) for NICE and 85% (6/7) for SMC. Commercial arrangements were used in more post- than pre-implementation HTAs (NICE, 75% [9/12] versus 38% [3/8]; SMC, 64% [7/11] versus 57% [4/7]). The majority of HTAs were in ovarian cancer (NICE, n=11; SMC, n=8), then endometrial cancer (NICE, n=4; SMC, n=4), endometriosis (NICE, n=3; SMC, n=3) and cervical cancer (NICE, n=2; SMC, n=3).
CONCLUSIONS: In HTAs completed after the implementation of women’s health strategies in the UK, the high rate of positive recommendations (100%), general alignment between NICE and SMC, and frequent use of commercial arrangements (70%) to allow more women to access these treatments is encouraging. However, the long-term impact of these strategies remains uncertain, and significant effort is still required to address the persistent gender bias in health research, evaluation, and access.