WOMENS HEALTH

Although women live longer than men, new evidence indicates women bear a disproportionately heavy burden of disease. The effect of disease on economic productivity of women in developing countries has been largely ignored. Infections are often causes of disease in women, including those that affect reproductive health. Although men and women usually experience similar rates of many diseases, rates of exposure and treatment vary between men and women. If untreated, factors adversely affecting women's health in one stage compound women's ill health in succeeding stages.