• Women face specific health care needs and without a national women’s health policy these cannot be adequately addressed. Health care research generally focuses on men, despite symptoms often differing between men and women. For example, heart attacks in women can often present with much more subtle symptoms which are easily ignored. The focus on men’s symptoms is a factor which contributes to heart disease being the biggest killer of Australian women.
• Women continue to be negatively affected by the impact of the Medicare freeze which has lowered to Medicare rebate by $2.50 in real terms. According to the AMA despite the freeze being lifted in the 2018-19 Budget it continues to impact on the affordability of GP visits (SMH, 2019). Women make up the majority of GP visits with approximately 60 per cent of GP visits made by women and a further 11 per cent by children (Britt H. et al, 2014) and are disproportionally affected by the lower rebate and higher out of pocket costs.
• Preventative health care is critical for women, with 27 per cent of adult females currently categorised as obese (AIHW, 2018). This increases the risks of a number of diseases including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. One in two Australian women have a chronic disease.
• Women are more likely to live in poverty than men (ACOSS, 2018), and therefore socio-economic inequalities disproportionally impact women. Mothers in the lowest socioeconomic areas are 60 per cent more likely to have a low birth weight baby than mothers in the highest socio-economic areas in 2013 (AIHW, 2017).