Heart disease leading cause of death in women

A new WHO report looks at women’s health needs and their contribution to the health of societies. In high-income countries,18% of women die from heart disease, often considered a ‘male’ disease. This is just one of the findings in the report which draws attention to the consequences and costs of failing to address health issues at the appropriate points of women’s lives.

Globally, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. This is the case in high-income countries: in low and middle income countries it is the second highest cause.

In countries in the WHO European Region:

• Women’s life expectancy at birth ranges from 69.8 years to 84 years.
• Infant deaths range from 2 per 1000 live births to 73 per 1000 live births.
• Maternal deaths range from 1 per 100 000 live births to 170 per 100 000 live births.
• Respiratory and some other diseases are the leading cause of death for girls in childhood replaced by accidents and other external causes of death among female adolescents and young adults.
• Cancer and diseases of the circulatory system (including heart disease) are the leading causes of death in older women.

Women face different health issues at different stages of their lives. Looking at women’s health from a life-course approach fosters a deeper understanding of how health issues in childhood, through adolescence, during the reproductive years and beyond, affect health later in life and across the generations.

This approach also reveals the importance of women’s multiple contributions to society – in both their productive and reproductive roles, as consumers and, just as importantly, as providers of health care. The report reviews the health of women across the life-course to encourage policy dialogue and make health systems work for women. It looks at women’s health needs and their contribution to the health of societies. The report also highlights the impact on women’s health of gender inequities and other socioeconomic determinants of health, such as poverty and education.