Desjardins Insurance Striving to Close Canadas Gender Health Gap

• Desjardins Insurance is sponsoring a national initiative to close the women's health gap in Canada
• This partnership involves the Women's Health Collective Canada (WHCC) and McKinsey Health Institute

Desjardins Insurance is proud to sponsor a renewed national campaign focused on tackling Canada's women's health gap - a disparity impacting individual well-being and extending to the broader economy.

The initiative, in collaboration with Women's Health Collective Canada and based on new research from the McKinsey Health Institute is aimed at driving better coverage, preventive care, and parity in access to treatment.

According to McKinsey's analysis, women in Canada spend almost a full 24 percent of the average length of life in poor health compared with men-much of that during their most productive years.

This contributes to reduce workforce participation and increased costs related to disability and health benefits. Closing the gap could add an estimated $37 billion to Canada's GDP annually by 2040 while easing long-term pressures on public and private healthcare systems.

As Desjardins noted, the findings highlight the implications benefits plan design and coverage could have on health outcomes.

The insurance company stated its mission is to empower every woman to navigate her health, well-being and financial confidence throughout her life and the collaboration with WHCC is part of that larger mission.

The initiative illustrates the growing emphasis of group insurers pursuing gender-sensitive coverage. There is enthusiasm about prioritizing reproductive health, preventive screening, mental health and chronic disease management as heightened priorities to address healthcare disparities.

Industry stakeholders stressed that better health coverage has the potential to yield equitable health and economic outcomes. Hologic Canada stressed the importance of linking innovation with policy reform to ensure access to quality care.

Organon Canada's data indicated that only about 5 percent of global pharmaceutical R&D funds engage with women's health, with only 1 percent when excluding cancer research.

Desjardins’ participation with WHCC exemplifies a more significant commitment within the insurance industry to move toward proactive, prevention-based models of care.

By addressing gender-based health inequities through inclusive benefits and partnerships, insurers as a health-income-producing economy to better health outcomes and a fairer, more resilient healthcare system.