Sep 10, 2026 – 9.40amReducing women’s health to reproductive organs and hormones leaves dangerous blind spots in how doctors diagnose, treat, and save female patients. That’s according to Sarah White, the chief executive of Jean Hailes for Women’s Health, who is urging a shift “beyond the bikini line” to acknowledge women’s health is not a niche area of medicine confined to hormonal changes and reproductive organs.“The progress we’ve made in bringing periods, endometriosis and menopause out of the shadows is something we should celebrate,” she says. “That work continues and it’s vital. But if we don’t recognise that women’s health includes the whole body and mind, we risk ignoring the way cancer, diabetes, heart disease and many other conditions affect women differently.”Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Euan BlackHealth and wellness reporterEuan Black is the health and wellness reporter at The Australian Financial Review. He was the work and careers reporter.Fetching latest articles