Time is now to prioritize women’s health

Nearly 30 years ago, a group of Fairfield County women saw the dire need to address unique health and quality-of-life issues specific to women and girls.

They acted by launching the Fund for Women & Girls, which today stands as the largest fund specifically designed to meet the needs of women and girls in all of New England.

It’s a success story worth celebrating. On April 11, we’ll do just that when Fairfield County’s Community Foundation gathers with fund supporters at an annual event that will feature renowned journalist Jane Pauley sharing how her personal experiences led her to be a tenacious advocate for women’s mental health.

Each year, the celebration affirms how far we have come through the work supported by the Fund.

It also serves to remind us there is still a long way to go.

Women still lag our male counterparts when it comes to funding for research, resources, and treatments for addressing a wide range of health and wellness issues.

This is particularly evident in areas such as cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and mental health, where symptoms, risk factors, and treatment responses often differ between genders.

And while women currently account for nearly half of physicians in training, awareness among practicing physicians about gender differences still lags when it comes to critical issues such as heart disease.

A 2022 report from the American Heart Association (AHA) found only 22% of physicians and 42% of cardiologists said that they felt prepared to adequately assess heart disease specific to women. The AHA also reported that women who visited emergency departments with chest pain waited 29 percent longer than men to be evaluated for possible heart attacks.

As if all that weren’t enough, the COVID-19 pandemic hit women particularly hard, disproportionately impacting their health and economic stability. Women experienced more COVID-19 cases and deaths than men, and more women reported mental health concerns than men. On the economic front, 76% of parents who had to stay home and not work due to child care responsibilities were women.

Moreover, when race is considered, the disparities in quality-of-care and outcomes become even more pronounced. Since the onset of the pandemic, a higher proportion of Hispanic women have reported facing food insecurity compared to females of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, Black women encounter significant disparities in maternal health outcomes for both themselves and their infants. The Foundation has recently launched the Black Maternal Health Initiative to address this urgent issue.

Clearly, there is no shortage of needs when it comes to improving the health and lives of women and girls in our community and across Connecticut.

The Fund for Women & Girls serves as a catalyst for accelerating progress. Supporting the Fund for Women & Girls is one way each of us can amplify our immediate impact and create lasting change.

Meaningful change is within reach. In our community, we’ve witnessed it through the dedication of committed doulas, the tireless efforts of community health workers connecting underserved individuals to vital resources, and the leaders of grassroots advocacy movements. These advocates have recently achieved significant victories in legislative battles to promote women’s health equity, exemplified by the passage of An Act Protecting Maternal Health. This legislation establishes new regulations governing the certification and practice of doulas in support of childbirth services. For years, movement leaders lobbied lawmakers, penned letters, and testified before the state legislature. In the face of setbacks, they doubled down and persisted.

Many of the women who will gather with us at the Fund for Women & Girls Annual Celebration on April 11 have shown similar courage and resilience. We invite you to join us, to learn from one another, and to share your own stories. It is only through our collective efforts that we can build a community where every woman and girl has the opportunity to thrive.