From ovulation and reproductive tracking devices to contraceptive microchips, there was a surge in digital health products geared toward women lately. This rapidly growing global industry, generally known as “femtech” or women’s tech, is anticipated to do just that be price $60 billion (£44 billion) by 2027.
Many of us are already accustomed to apps or devices that manage many features of our lives. And at a time when regular access to doctors has been limited as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, more women appear to have it turned to technology for his or her health. A knowledge company indeed Stop recently calculated that within the last six months of 2020 alone, the variety of femtech corporations increased from 369 to 581 in 36 countries.
These digital health products are a part of a much broader area ofembodied technologies” that allow users to pay attention to their body’s rhythms and functions in a way that feels secure, intimate and empowering. However, such products don’t at all times offer an accessible privacy policy or commitment to protecting women’s data sold to 3rd parties.
This isn’t a challenge just for startups. Recently within the US, the Flo ovulation app has reached approx settlement with the Federal Trade Commission after the regulator alleged that the corporate shared the information of nearly 100 million users with third-party corporations, including advertisers. Flo pleads not guilty to any crime. In a press release, the corporate said it doesn’t share users’ health information without their consent. “We are committed to ensuring that the privacy of our users’ personal health information is absolutely paramount,” he added in a press release.
Tests it also shows that, despite a growing market, a lot of these digital tools geared toward women are created, invested in and sold by men. Indeed, the UK government recently launched a program call for evidence in preparation for the brand new women’s health strategy. In the appeal, then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock agreed that girls’s health deserved a brand new approach. He said: “For generations, women have lived in a health and care system designed primarily by men and for men.”
Under-researched and under-funded
Global market evaluation for 2021 by the Australian network FemTech Collective found as of 2011, digital health corporations that concentrate on women’s health received only 3% of investment deals within the US healthcare sector. This suggests that the ladies’s digital health industry isn’t considered a viable economic enterprise. This is despite the proven fact that women hold most health care positions, make most health care decisions of their households, and spend more money on health care products than men.
The report highlights that the ladies’s digital health industry doesn’t have the infrastructure, capital or critical research that men’s and gender-neutral markets have. Too often, the foundations and regulations developed around these products are based on a “one size fits all” model. This ends in broad and inflexible policies that don’t recognize the complexity and uniqueness of girls’s health experiences.
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This becomes even more essential while you consider that many built-in tracking devices or applications are designed to administer, “refine” and monitor women’s intimate processes. There have at all times been women taught to feel alien and feel ashamed of their very own bodies – or that they should “manage” their bodily functions. There is a risk that such technology, if not rigorously developed, could further contribute to this.
Apart from period and pregnancy monitors
While essentially the most well-known femtech products include ovulation and pregnancy monitors, FemTech Collective report also acknowledges that “women are much more than their reproductive capacity” and that “women’s health extends beyond fertility and reproductive needs.” Many current digital products geared toward women also problematically assume a white, heterosexual, affluent, able-bodied and able-bodied user. It is evident that more must be done to be certain that investment and innovation in femtech is sustainable, accessible and inclusive – and reaches the ladies who need it most.
The excellent news, nevertheless, is that within the push to develop more digital health services and products, women are demanding more involvement. Organizations resembling FemTech Collective AND Women wearable devices are transforming the industry landscape by creating networks that speed up women’s investment and innovation while advocating for greater diversity. These networks also help connect women working in femtech – from designers and scientists to funders and marketers. This helps position femtech not just as a “niche” a part of the broader digital health field, but as a vibrant industry in its own right.
Indeed, while it’s great that there are alternatives to the mainstream, male-dominated health tech industry, it is not enough for femtech products to easily be tools for “women” only. Therefore, it is incredibly essential for the industry to bear in mind other types of marginalization and ladies’s experiences.
