According to Hoogwoudse, this is mainly due to a lack of knowledge. “It is still not sufficiently known that women become ill differently than men,” says Kaijer. “While health research and medication tests focus very much on men. As a result, women are, for example, admitted to hospital much more often due to side effects of medicines. Up to 33 percent more often than men.”
According to her, the lack of knowledge causes stigmatization: “Women with, for example, an autoimmune disease that is not diagnosed or with hormonal problems that are not properly recognized, such as menopause, are still too often diagnosed with a burnout or other label linked to psychological complaints.”
Ten years of inexplicable complaints
It is no coincidence that Kaijer stands up for women who have inexplicable health problems. She had to live with the complaints of a benign tumor of the parathyroid gland for ten years before it was discovered what was actually going on.
Eventually she wrote the book ‘I am not a man!’ and founded the Voices for Women foundation in 2022. The petition for the study of women’s bodies attracted 60,000 signatures. A hotline was also launched, which, according to Kaijer, resulted in an avalanche of responses from women with unexplained health complaints.
National Women’s Health Day
And that’s not all. The foundation will hold the first national women’s health day on May 25 at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. “It is necessary and possibly the beginning of an important change in women’s medicine,” Kaijer explains. “We will continue until every woman receives the right medical care.”