Health, sex and gender
Sexual differences reflect biological differences between men and women which are expressed in anatomical, physiological and behavioural aspects connected with reproduction. They are differences which are expressed throughout the life cycle, with different rhythms of growth, maturity, and ageing and a differing sensitivity towards environmental factors, which is globally greater in men, although women may show greater sensitivity or differential responses to certain specific situations. Man and woman are sexual categories.
Gender differences are the result of cultural constructs which define behaviours, activities and power relationships culturally established for men and women. They may generate differences in the expression of diseases common to both sexes (both in the risk of getting them and in the proportion affected and the seriousness).
The introduction of gender policies by WHO allowed us to systematically tackle and understand the role of gender and sex in the field of health, enriched with recent information about health monitoring thanks to the SDOs for 2030, especially from two of the five established areas: “reproductive, maternal, newborn and boy and girl health” and “injuries and violence”.