On 5 March 2024 the presentation of the White Paper on Health and Gender took place in the Spanish Congress of Deputies. This project has been an initiative led jointly by the Health Observatory and the Communication Study.
According to the document itself, this White Paper “aims to awaken reflection throughout society on the need to incorporate health policies and actions with a gender perspective”.
The event was attended by various national platforms and associations, such as the Platform of Patients’ Organisations, the General Council of Pharmaceutical Associations, and the Spanish Association for Cancer Research, among others.
From the Pain Observatory we are really proud that Dr. Inmaculada Failde, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Director of the Pain Observatory, has contributed to the writing of the document, in the authorship of Chapter 19: “Chronic pain in women”, together with Dr. Ana M. Peiró and Dr. Pilar Rivas Vallejo, and Dr. Antonio Collado Cruz.
This chapter states that “biological factors undoubtedly play an important role in the observed brain differences between men and women with CD”. However, it notes, “there are also gender-related psychological factors such as socialisation, cognition and lived experiences that contribute to the observed brain differences”.
On the other hand, the chapter confirms that male and female identity “impact on pain and pain-related behaviour, such that those subjects who identify as traditionally male report and show their pain less to others, while those who identify as female are more willing to show it and seek help to manage it”.
The Health and Gender White Paper is available by clicking here.
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