Women health devices market to procure massive gains over 2019-2025

Moreover, the top three cancers, namely breast, lungs and colorectal, were reported to contribute to around 43.9% of all identified cancers in women worldwide. Needless to say, with such growing global burden, prevention of cancer in women has become one of the key public health concerns of the 21st century.

Talking of the criticality of these conditions at a global level, breast cancer is touted as one of the most frequent cancers among women, impacting about 2.1 million women each year, and further causing the highest number of cancer related deaths, according to WHO. In the year 2018, the condition was estimated to cause around 627,000 deaths, which is about 15% of all cancer deaths among women.

Certainly, with such swelling figures, researchers and healthcare players are extensively focusing on developing effective clinical devices to help detect and prevent acute health conditions in women at an early stage. For instance, in May 2019, researchers in the US successfully developed and tested an easy-to-use, noninvasive bioimpedance spectroscopy device that can detect early signs of cancer known as lymphedema that occurs mainly after a breast cancer surgery, dropping the risk of cancer by nearly 70% in women. A slew of such technological advancements in pipeline suggest a highly lucrative roadmap for women health devices industry in the years ahead.  

Women health devices market | Use of surgical mesh and its repercussions

The women health devices market has seemingly helped suppress cases of pelvic floor disorders in women worldwide. For the uninitiated, Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a type of pelvic floor disorder that occurs in women having weak pelvic floor muscles which makes it difficult to hold their organs in place. Organs more likely to get subjected to prolapse include the uterus, bladder, rectum, vagina, and urethra, ill functioning of which can increase complications in women at the time of childbirth and pregnancy.

However, with the use of surgical mesh, doctors can immensely help rectify such critical clinical issues in women. The product is primarily made of synthetic polymers or biopolymers and can be used for female pelvic reconstructive surgeries as well as to repair POP and Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) in women more effectively.

Reportedly, in 2010, around 300,000 women in the US underwent surgery to repair POP, wherein one out of three procedures used surgical mesh. Moreover, about 250,000 women in the US underwent surgery to repair SUI, with mesh placement being used in over 80% of the procedures -figures that signify the key importance of surgical mesh for industry growth.

The increasing prevalence of non-hormonal contraceptive devices in the US

Over the past few decades, there has been a drastic surge in development of newer contraception methods such as hormonal methods (for ex. pills), barrier methods (condoms), non-hormonal methods (intrauterine device), long acting reversible methods (implants) and sterilisation. However, to avoid potential side-effects or other health-related factors, women are increasingly relying on non-hormonal method like intrauterine devices (IUD) intrauterine systems (IUS) lately.

Certainly, both IUS and IUD are long acting reversible contraceptives, which means that women can avoid pregnancy for about 3-5 years or 5-10 years respectively with such devices depending on the brand they used. Moreover, with an effectiveness rate of above 99%, IUDs can be used as a form of emergency contraception if inserted within five days after unprotected sex. Factors that have lured women in using such products are attaining long-term protection as well as avoid some acute side effects from hormonal contraceptives like nutritional deficiencies, crohn's disease and more.

As for the US market, about millions of women in the country are mainly relying on private insurance coverage to help gain affordable contraceptive services and supplies. With the region’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires most private health plans to cover a designated list of preventive services, including all FDA-approved contraceptive methods and contraceptive counseling for women, the US women health devices industry is slated to register commendable gains in the years to come.

In terms of global commercialisation matrix, the women health devices market is slated to surpass a revenue of $42bn by 2025.

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