Women face a "diagnostic odyssey" at the doctor. This plan aims to help.

Women live longer than men, but they also spend more time being sick. Why is that? One reason is that women's health has long been under-researched and underfunded. 

According to research from Melinda French Gates' Pivotal, for every dollar spent globally on medical research and innovation, only 5 cents are spent on women's health. 

The Society for Women's Health Research is trying to change that in the United States with a first-of-its-kind, $20 billion,10-year federal road map to improve the health of more than half of the population. 

SWHR President and CEO Katie Schubert joined me on Healthful to explain the plan and discuss why funding research, education and training for doctors benefits not only women but the nation as a whole. 

This is just the beginning of understanding women's health 

When the Society for Women's Health Research launched in 1989, only 13% of the National Institutes of Health's budget was for women's health. Now, that number is less than 10%. 

"We need to make sure we're investing in the research itself," Schubert said. "We also are taking this a step further. It can't just be research dollars. We need to support the workforce in research and in clinical education. If you show up to your doctor, they may not have an understanding of how things are different for women than men."

It wasn't until 1993 that scientists at NIH were required to even include women in clinical research. The effects of that are part of why Schubert believes women face a "diagnostic odyssey" with "mystery illnesses and diseases."

Even conditions like cardiovascular disease in women and menopause are so under-researched that it takes longer for women to get answers from their doctors. 

"Menopause is something that impacts 100% of that 51% of the population," Schubert said, "and yet we have millions and millions of dollars going into other research." That other research includes trials on medications for men's sexual health.

"It's good for the country"

"This is an everyone issue, not just a women's issue," Schubert said.

Women make a majority of the healthcare decisions for families, according to Schubert, so she sees value in the innovation that could come from a major investment in women's health. As the ones most likely to manage a household, women are the ones driving money into the healthcare system.

Closing the gender health gap will also help reduce the disparities between women of color and White women.

"Across the board, it does not matter what issue area we are looking at," Schubert said — there are glaring racial inequities in healthcare. She notes that since women and minorities weren't fully included in medical research previously, there is not enough knowledge to pull from to adequately treat these groups. That, on top of a history of systemic racism and sexism that has lasted in this country for centuries.

Schubert's strategy will fund research that is inclusive of all groups, and she believes the result "will definitely help close those disparities."

More than 60 health organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Heart Association and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, have signed on to the SWHR road map. They're working with Schubert to pass the $20 billion national strategy to close the health gap between women and men in the United States.

"This is a lot of money," Schubert acknowledges. But she says it's necessary.

Building a strategy the right way

The plan includes five "buckets" for that funding to go into over five years. The categories focus on: 

• Research and innovation
• Coordination among agencies
• Expansion of education and training for clinicians
• Improvement of data collection
• Improvement of health literacy in America

Schubert wants to see more inclusive data collecting so we can learn more about how symptoms of the same disease may present differently in women versus men. 

"Things like AI, if collected correctly," she said, are "hugely innovative for women's health. We may be able to tap data sources we didn't know that we had."

What women can do now

"Arm yourself with as much information as possible," Schubert advises. 

During a typical doctor's appointment, you may only have 15 minutes with a clinician, so every second counts. Knowing your body and what you have experienced is beneficial in filling any gaps the doctor may have on your condition.

Women "unfortunately have the burden… to go in [the doctor's office] and advocate for ourselves," Schubert said. 

As SWHR strives for gender equality in medical research, women have to continue educating themselves on what research is out there.

But that advice also comes with a word of caution: Pay attention to your sources. "We're seeing so many women turn to social media for their advice," Schubert said. "There's some really good sources, there are also some not-so-great sources."

Schubert's next step is pressing Congress to make the strategy a priority. She's raising awareness so lawmakers turn the funding proposal into policy.

"We're standing on the shoulders of those who came before us to make our voices collectively so loud that policymakers can't ignore it anymore."