Hologic Survey: Women’s Health Worsened in 2021

The 2021 Hologic Global Women’s Health Index, a survey of almost 127,000 women and men in 122 countries, shows that health situations for women did not improve in the second year of the pandemic and many worsened. Hologic launched the survey in 2020 in partnership with Gallup to assess how female health & wellbeing needs were being met.

Preventive care, which is still inaccessible to many women, remains the weakest of all health dimensions: some 60% of women in 2021 (equating to a population greater than 1.5bn) reported that they were not tested for four of the most frequent, fast-growing, and / or deadly conditions globally: just 12% of women were tested for any type of cancer, 34% for high blood pressure, 19% for diabetes and 11% for STDs / STIs. Emotional health is also a key dimension, with a growing body of evidence that it can affect cardiovascular health and other physical health risk factors.

^{Source: Hologic Global Women’s Health Index report}

Nicholas Hall Writes: It’s a sad fact that women were more stressed, worried, angry and sad in 2021 than at any other point in the past decade, according to this insightful survey, with 43% of the sample claiming to have experienced worry and 41% stress during much of the day before the survey was conducted.

The Hologic Chairman, Stephen MacMillan, commented: “No matter what pandemics, wars or other crises roil our societies, we must commit ourselves to improving the health of women, because they form the backbone of our families, communities and societies.” That is so true! Yet looking through the narrower lens of consumer health, we offer very few specialist products for women beyond feminine intimate health.

Log on to hear from Nicholas and experts from Bayer, Havas Health and more at our Asia-Pacific e-Conference on 23 November! You can expect insights into sustainability, the Go-To-Market model and self-care collaborations. This online event will also include the presentation of our Regional CHC Creative Marketing Award. For more information, or to register, please contact elizabeth.bernos@NicholasHall.com.

Prevention better (and growing faster) than cure

For many years now, Nicholas Hall has been highlighting how OTC subcategories focused on prevention are growing faster than those directed towards treatment or intervention. This long-term trend in the CHC industry continues to take root, thanks to the growing power of categories like probiotics (another Infinity Zone, covered in last week’s blog).

At this year’s Vienna conference, Nicholas Hall presented a slide of the fastest-growing OTC subcategories by CAGR (2014-18), comparing those focused on prevention with those centred around treatment, and this showed that seven of the Top 10 most dynamic subcategories in recent years had a preventive focus. Sexual health is a relatively new driver of this trend, with two subcategories in the Top 5 – erectile dysfunction and emergency hormonal contraception.

Vitamins, minerals & supplements have long been the main driver of this prevention trend, with probiotics and vitamin D the two key subcategories. Innovation and niche product positioning (i.e. to prevent allergies, candidiasis, age-related illnesses, etc) have helped fuel probiotics growth, while the dynamism of vitamin D sales has been driven by rising awareness of the high levels of deficiency in many markets and the benefits  of supplementation.

Herbal memory & brain health is an increasingly attractive subcategory, as exemplified by RB’s recent launch of Neuriva, a new product designed to support “brain fitness” and prevent cognitive decline. Royal jelly is taken widely in Europe and Asia-Pacific as a way to prevent fatigue, while just outside the Top 10 in CAGR terms are magnesium, zinc, pregnancy vitamins and hair & beauty supplements. According to OTC New Products Tracker, the latter was the fifth most active OTC subcategory in 2018 in terms of launch activity, with 150 innovations.

Last chance to pre-order Nicholas Hall’s New Paradigms for CHC 2019: Over the Horizon, written by Nicholas himself! Examine each aspect of the CHC industry in 20 chapters, with a focus on major issues including Regulation, Pharmacy Point-of-Care, M&A, Switch and much more. Nicholas will also unveil the “infinity zones” he has identified as being crucial to the future growth of the industry. In addition to this, you can upgrade your purchase to include a customised in-house presentation or webinar with Nicholas for an additional GB£10,000. To find out more or to place your order, please contact melissa.lee@NicholasHall.com.