Held from 24 to 26 October 2024, a key focus of the Women’s Health Conference 2024 is the call for a shift in women’s healthcare, to prioritise the prevention and early detection of non-communicable diseases because of its potential to reduce the disease burden in women.

Professor Vassilis Tsatsaris (left), Director of Institute of Women’s Health, UPCité and Professor Zhang Cuilin (right), Director of GloW delivering a joint welcome address.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle before pregnancy including being a non-smoker, getting sufficient physical activity, adopting a healthy diet and keeping a healthy weight can prevent more than 50% of gestational diabetes mellitus events¹ and more than 90% of type 2 diabetes diagnoses. With these parameters, GloW sets out to identify modifiable factors, partnering with investigators from UPCité and others, at both molecular and behavioural levels that could influence women’s health outcomes across their life course and beyond.

Nutrition is a pivotal modifiable factor in health and disease prevention. Reflecting this importance, GloW launched a flagship MSc programme in Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine during the conference. Building on this success, GloW integrated the theme of nutrition across sessions throughout all three days of the event. This involved exploring the link between dietary habits, food choices and the impact on long-term health outcomes in women.

There was also a cooking demonstration and panel discussion showcasing culinary strategies for optimal nutrition on the second day of the conference, chaired by experts including Greg Drescher from the Culinary Institute of America, US and Singapore campus.

A panel discussion jointly helmed with the World Economic Forum featured speakers including Amira Ghouaibi, Head of the Global Alliance for Women’s Health, World Economic Forum, Helena Hui Wang, Asia Senior Executive Editor of the Lancet, Professor Zaleha Abdullah Mahdy, Head of Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UKM Medical Centre, National University of Malaysia, Dr Megan Greenfield, Partner with McKinsey & Company, and Professor Chong Yap Seng, Dean of NUS Medicine outlined ways to address diverse health.