Jennifer Mendoza
Research expert covering health, pharma and medtech
Women's health in Italy - Statistics & Facts
Women’s health issues have not been a priority for a long time, and only recently has awareness been raised on the topic. For example, until the 1990s, well-known illnesses, such as heart diseases, AIDS/HIV, and some types of cancer, were not recognized to manifest differently in female bodies. Moreover, even today, there is still a lack of research on diseases that are more prevalent among women, such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, or that affect them closely, such as endometriosis and vulvodynia. As of 2023, 51.21 percent of the Italian population was female, and their life expectancy at birth was 85.2 years, one of the highest worldwide. Women are most affected by chronic diseases with the share of females taking medicines in Italy in 2023 higher than that of males across almost all age groups.
