PROFESSOR ROB GALLOWAY: Women ARE second-class citizens in terms of health...
and I know why By Professor Rob Galloway Published: 01:57, 22 October 2024 | Updated: 02:05, 22 October 2024 e-mail View comments As a middle-aged male doctor, I viewed the news last week that half of women believe the NHS treats their health as a second-class issue with disbelief. Why did only half of women believe that? I think it should be 100 per cent of them. Because the shameful fact is, in terms of their health, women really are treated as second-class citizens, with study after study showing that they consistently receive worse medical care than men.
This must change and – as a husband and father of daughters, as well as a doctor – my fear is that this isn't changing fast enough. Take heart disease: compared with men, women who have a heart attack are more likely to be misdiagnosed and less likely to be given the right treatments such as an angiogram to open up blocked blood vessels. No wonder women are more likely to die of a heart attack than men – don't just take my word for it: a consensus statement bringing together all the relevant data, published last month in the journal Heart by leading British heart doctors, concluded that 'cardiovascular disease remains the UK's number-one killer for women.
Women are underdiagnosed, undertreated and under-represented in all cardiovascular disease areas.' Women really are treated as second-class citizens, with study after study showing that t.
