Women accounted for 71.4 per cent of global health workforce growth between 1990 and 2023, according to a study covering 204 countries and territories.

The global workforce almost tripled over the period, rising from 40.9m to 122.1m workers.

Women represented 68.9 per cent of all health workers in 2023, but remained concentrated in professions that generally offer lower pay and fewer leadership opportunities.

The study analysed 20 groups of specially trained health personnel, including doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists and community health workers.

Between 1990 and 2023, the workforce grew by more than 81m people, including an additional 18.9m nurses and 8.7m doctors.

In 2023, there were 33.2m nurses, 15.1m doctors, 7.6m community health workers, 6.8m pharmacists and pharmaceutical assistants, and 6.1m dentists and dental assistants worldwide.

Women made up 80.7 per cent of nurses, 96 per cent of midwives and 89.5 per cent of community health workers, while fewer than half of doctors were women.

A similar pattern was seen in dentistry and pharmacy, where women were more likely to work as assistants than as dentists or pharmacists.

Megan Knight, lead author of the study and researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said: “Women have transformed the global health workforce over the past three decades, but they continue to be concentrated in professions that generally offer lower pay and fewer opportunities for leadership.

“Building stronger health systems will require not only expanding the workforce, but also creating equitable opportunities for career advancement, leadership, and safe, supportive working environments.”

Despite the growth, researchers estimated that an additional 34.4m doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and pharmacists would be needed to achieve moderate levels of universal health coverage.

Universal health coverage means people can access essential health services without experiencing financial hardship.

The estimated global shortage includes 23.9m nurses and midwives, 7.1m doctors, 1.8m dentists and 1.6m pharmacists.

South Asia had the largest estimated shortages, requiring an additional 2.6m doctors and 10m nurses and midwives to reach the study’s benchmark for moderate universal health coverage.

Sub-Saharan Africa also had substantial shortages. Nursing density was estimated at 14.5 nurses per 10,000 people, compared with 121.8 per 10,000 in high-income countries.

At country level, there were 3.2 nurses per 10,000 people in Chad and 3.3 in Madagascar, compared with 171.7 in Belgium and 161.4 in the US.

Dr Annie Haakenstad, senior author of the study and assistant professor of health metrics sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said: “Health workers are the foundation of every health system.

“Although the global workforce has expanded dramatically, millions more doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, and pharmacists will be needed to ensure people everywhere can access essential health services.

“These findings provide countries with minimum thresholds for planning the workforce needed to strengthen health systems and move toward universal health coverage.”

The study estimated that moderate universal health coverage was associated with minimum workforce densities of 23.8 doctors and 64.5 nurses and midwives per 10,000 people, alongside 5.2 dentists and 5.6 pharmacists per 10,000.

Researchers said closing workforce gaps would require continued investment in education, recruitment, retention and working conditions.

They also highlighted gender-responsive policies, including leadership development, workplace protections, paid parental leave and flexible work arrangements, as measures that could support a predominantly female workforce.

Women are being urged to seek evidence-based advice and avoid menopause misinformation shared on social media.

A seminar co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) mainly examined what is known about the cognitive effects of menopause and current research in the field worldwide.

Dr Nicole Jaff, a South African academic and certified menopause practitioner, said research into menopause and its effects was now at a peak.

She said: “There’s a lot of information out there.

“But I would say please look for the evidence-based information, not for the influencers and the misinformation, but those who are giving guidelines, who are giving information.”

Jaff highlighted research into cognitive changes during menopause and how some women experience brain fog, a term for difficulties with memory, concentration and clear thinking.

She said: “I’m very excited about the non-hormonal treatments that are now available, especially for women who could never take hormone therapy because of breast cancers and various cancers, who can now take it.

“I’m extremely excited about people who are standing up for evidence-based medicine, for science, who are actually fighting back against a lot of the social media and influencers who are not giving evidence-based information and making life very difficult for women because they think they should be forever young or buying this or buying that.”

Jaff advised women and healthcare workers to read new guidelines recently issued by the International Menopause Society. They are available free to download from its website.

The seminar also heard from Professor Aimee Spector, professor of clinical psychology of ageing at University College London.

She raised similar concerns about misinformation, particularly claims linking hormone replacement therapy, known as HRT, to dementia. Some claims suggest HRT reduces dementia risk, while others suggest it increases the risk.

Spector said: “I think there’s also lots of misinformation.

“And I think that there’s huge variations in how even professionals and doctors interpret this information.”

She was part of an international research team commissioned by the WHO last year to assess published studies on the issue.

The institutions involved also included the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin.

Spector said: “The first thing to say is that the quality of evidence was very low.

“Nine out of the 10 studies we looked at were observational, which means that you’re observing patterns over time. But you don’t necessarily know whether that’s due to the hormone therapy or not.

“Our overall recommendation was that there’s insufficient evidence for menopause hormone therapy in terms of either increasing or reducing the risk of dementia. In other words, we don’t know either way.”

Spector said women should therefore decide whether to use HRT to treat menopause symptoms rather than based on concerns about dementia.

She said: “It’s recommended for menopause symptoms, but it’s not recommended to reduce dementia. And I think a lot of people are saying that.”

The Menopause on the Brain webinar was part of an ongoing series hosted by the WHO and other global health agencies.

An endometriosis musical by two US writers will debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

“Endometriosis: The Musical” follows Jane, a woman trying to discover why she is living with chronic pain.

Maria Bartholdi and Kristin Stowell first developed the production for the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival.

The full show premiered at Theater in the Round in Minneapolis in 2025.

Stowell said the play drew on personal experience, although neither writer realised it at the time.

“So it’s like my goal to let women see themselves in this who are dealing with this and have a question they can bring back to their doctor,” she said.

“Like, could it be endometriosis?”

Bartholdi said she did not realise she might have the condition herself until after the play premiered.

“This show helped diagnose me, which I think is just one of the miraculous things that we hope this the show does for other people as well,” Bartholdi said.

Dr Wendy VanBuren, a radiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, said she was a fan of the musical and its role in raising awareness of a common but underdiagnosed disease.

“Cells that are similar to but not identical to the cells that comprise the lining of the uterus, the inside of the uterus, are located outside the uterus,” said VanBuren.

“When they’re outside the uterus, there isn’t the right environment to deal with that. So basically, what you get is bleeding, and then you get inflammation.”

Roughly one in seven women live with the disease, and receiving a diagnosis can take nearly a decade.