What are some of the problems? Equity for women in health care research, delivery, and scientific knowledge is a complex social problem. Women generally live longer than men in Israel, but they also use the medical system for longer periods in their lives and often are more likely to move through the aging process alone. Women are known to suffer more than men from chronic conditions such as hypertension, osteoporosis, depression, and migraine headaches. As the primary care-givers in families, women often ignore their own health problems to pay attention to the needs of others, and consequently access services, receive diagnoses, and obtain treatment at later stages of illness and disease. Preventive care and health education are not routine aspects of the health care process. Screening rates for breast cancer and other serious illnesses are low compared to European countries and other countries with socialized medicine. Women's health needs are still viewed primarily through the lens of reproductive issues, although this is slowly changing.

Differences between women There are also important differences between women based on ethnicity and socioeconomic class. Among women over 60, Ashkenazi women are most likely to report being in good health, and Arab women the least likely. Utilization of health services (doctor visits, lab tests, etc.) is lowest among Israeli Arabs and Mizrachi Jews, groups that report the poorest health in general.

What needs to change? Women are an invisible majority in the health care system. If public health policies are to truly promote women's health, women need to become integral players in medical research and practice, within a women-centered model where femaleness is the norm. Persistent focus on women's biological functions as mothers' needs to be replaced with a thorough examination of the social implications of women's lives over the entire life span, as wives, mothers, workers etc.. Rectifying inequalities and redefining women's health on our own terms takes time, since women, as well as health professionals, have been socialized into an androcentric (male centered) medical system. This is a basic feminist issue and as such, needs to be addressed in the context of general social change to improve women's lives and rectify inequality in society.

References Swirski, B., Kanaaneh, H., and Avgar, A.. The Israel Equality Monitor, Adva Center, 1998 (English & Hebrew).