Breaking taboos and closing gaps: women’s health in focus

One of the most urgent challenges concerns women’s health, as young girls and women across the globe continue to face barriers in receiving timely and accurate diagnoses for bleeding disorders. Symptoms such as heavy menstrual bleeding are too often minimized or addressed superficially, without further investigation into underlying causes. This lack of recognition perpetuates late or missed diagnoses, with direct consequences on patients’ quality of life. Raising awareness and encouraging open dialogue about menstruation remain critical to closing this diagnostic gap.

The issue is particularly evident in Mexico, where Dr. Aída Máshenka Moreno, Head of Pediatric Hematology at the Hospital Infantil de México in Mexico City, works closely with children and adolescents affected by bleeding disorders. We met her during ISTH 2025, and she described how many young girls with iron deficiency anemia are treated only for the anemia itself, while the root cause often remains unidentified. Her frontline experience shows that cultural taboos and limited awareness among primary care physicians make diagnosis especially difficult, even in confirmed cases of hemophilia.