Road safety recommendations in the northern territory
Policy & Practice Report
Strategies for reducing population salt intake
Policy & Practice Report
Investing in healthier lives: Pathways to healthcare financing reform in Australia
Policy & Practice Report
Sex and gender equity in health - The evidence
Discover the importance of considering sex and gender in health and medical research through these background and reference materials.
Sex and gender reporting in Australian health and medical research publicationsLearn more
Fifth anniversary of the Sex and Gender Equity in Research guidelines: taking stock and looking aheadLearn more
Sex and gender in health research: updating policy to reflect evidenceLearn more
Sex and gender equity in health - Our research and news
Explore the impacts of the sex and gender health gap – and the solutions we’re building to close it – through a selection of our research and news.
Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine confirms leadershipLearn more
Effects of environmental change on health and the critical need for sex- and gender-disaggregated dataLearn more
Theory of change for addressing sex and gender bias, invisibility and exclusion in Australian health and medical research, policy and practiceLearn more
Where is women’s healthcare in the political party manifestos?Learn more
Neglecting sex and gender in research is a public-health riskLearn more
World-class centre tackles sex and gender inequities in health and medicineLearn more
The Results: Global Women in Healthcare AwardsLearn more
Top UK biomedical research funders support first-of-its-kind sex and gender policy in major sector turning pointLearn more
Multi-country dementia study sho
Sex and gender equity in health - Our position
Delve into why we are considering the influence of sex and gender on health and medical research with our key policy reads and perspectives.
Australia has new health research gender standards – and centuries of inequity to fixLearn more
Integrating sex and gender into biomedical research requires policy and culture changeLearn more
Women’s Health: A New Global Agenda Policy PaperLearn more
A roadmap for sex- and gender-disaggregated health researchLearn more
Women’s health needs beyond sexual, reproductive, and maternal health are missing OpinionLearn more
Closing the Gender Health Gap: A Call for Sex and Gender Equity in Biomedical Research PoliciesLearn more
Our team
Discover the science behind our social media campaign
Women are twice as likely to die as men in the month after a heart attack.Source: The European Society of Cardiology
Women are up to 70% more likely to have adverse reactions to new medicines than men.Source: American Journal of Clinical Dermatology
Only 22% of early-stage clinical trial participants are women.Source: British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Women are more likely to develop dementia than men.Source: The George Institute for Global Health
Stroke misdiagnosis is more common in women than in men, because of gender differences in symptoms.Source: International Journal of Stroke
Greater gender equality is linked to longer life expectancy in women and men.Source: The George Institute for Global Health
Sex and gender equity
When it comes to our health the story isn't balanced. But it should be. We are committed to achieving health equity through our sex and gender initiatives.
We consider how sex and gender influence health and medical research because it is sound science and promotes the health of everyone.
Discover how The George Institute is leading efforts to close the sex and gender health gap in a video by our Founding Director, Prof Robyn Norton, and a blog from our Chair in Global Women’s Health, Prof Jane Hirst.
The George Institute's Sex and Gender Initiatives
Centre for Sex and Gender EquityThe Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine brings together researchers across Australia with an interest in the effects of sex and gender on health outcomes.Learn more
The MESSAGE ProjectThe Medical Science Sex and Gender Equity project aims to improve the integration of sex and gender considerations in biomedical, health and care research in the United Kin
Improving recovery outcomes for burns survivors in India: a systems approach
Background
Globally, burns are a leading cause of disability, with over 8 million years of life lost each year. The burden of burns falls disproportionately on the poorest. It is estimated that 114,000 deaths every year are caused by fire-related injury, the majority of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. In 2019, 23000 fire-related deaths were estimated to burns in India, which is around 20% of the global mortality burden. Around 1.5 million disability-adjusted life years were estimated to be due to fire-related injuries. Burns statistics in India reflect gender and social inequality. Mortality due to burning is three times higher among women aged between 15-49 years, and four times higher among women aged between 15-34 years.
The lack of effective quality burns services, and the absence of coordinated efforts within the health system, contribute to high mortality and morbidity rates. The burden of incurring high out-of-pocket costs and catastrophic expenditure for the family is highest in
Produce Prescription: innovative ‘Food is Medicine’ intervention to improve health among people with type 2 diabetes
Background
Currently, there is a strong ‘Food is Medicine’ movement evolving, calling for healthy foods or meals to be prescribed by doctors to prevent or treat diet-sensitive conditions, like they already do with drugs. Outcomes from early studies, in which doctors prescribe healthy foods, termed ‘produce prescriptions’, have suggested comparable health benefits to prescription medications. In addition to improving health outcomes, these programs also reduce health inequity by focusing on communities experiencing food insecurity.
Unhealthy diet is one of the major drivers of type 2 diabetes that costs Australian healthcare tens of billions of dollars each year and occurring most frequently among the most disadvantaged communities. Our completed pilot study in Australia demonstrated considerable potential benefit of produce prescription for those with type 2 diabetes, and high acceptability among program participants. However, gold-standard randomised trial data are needed to define clinica
TEXT4myBACK: A text message intervention to improve function in people with low back pain
BackgroundResearch findings show that treatments commonly offered to patients with low back pain (LBP) are not evidence-based and are potentially harmful (e.g. opioids or routine imaging).Treatments for LBP, such as medication and bed rest, are often associated with higher disability compared to active management strategies and do not help patients develop self-management skills for their condition. Reviews have shown that most self-management approaches for LBP fail to address key healthy lifestyle behaviours (i.e. weight control, physical activity participation, sleep quality), known to be associated with the risk of developing chronic musculoskeletal pain.The effectiveness of using text messages to educate and empower patients to self-manage their acute LBP through lifestyle-based interventions is currently unknown. The TEXT4myBACK study seeks to answer this important question.AimTo evaluate the effectiveness of a lifestyle-focused intervention delivered by mobile phone text message for adults with no