Hologic Women's Health Index Shows Improvement in Key Areas

• Improvements in women’s health according to the Hologic Global Women’s Health Index
• The highest percentage of women ever is being tested for high blood pressure, cancer, and diabetes
• Women report a lower sense of safety than men in 104 of 144 countries

The latest Hologic Global Women’s Health Index shows that there is a positive trend in women’s health in certain key aspects.

Women are now more than ever before, since the Index’s inception five years ago, getting tested for high blood pressure, cancer, and diabetes. Moreover, they also feel safer in their communities.

The Index is a vital tool in filling the gap in knowledge about women’s health and wellbeing worldwide. It assesses health in five aspects: preventive care, health and safety opinions, emotional health, basic needs, and individual health.

In measurements of high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been used to help identify the major causes of illness, preventable death, and long-term health complications among women globally.

There were approximately 39 percent of women who had received tests for high blood pressure in 2024, representing an increase over the five-year historical average.

An increase of four percentage points occurred in diabetic testing (to 24 percent) and three percentage points with respect to testing for cancer (to 13 percent). There have been no changes to the rate of STI testing since the inception of the Index 10 percent of women reported testing for STIs in 2024.

There were similar increases in the rates of diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure testing among women aged 51 years or older and women living in upper-middle and high-income economies.

The Index compiles information about women’s health across five dimensions and provides a single score. The overall global score decreased from 54 out of 100 for 2020 to 54 out of 100 in 2024, which shows no improvement over time; however, there was some progress across different dimensions.