What is Femtech and why is it so important for women's health?

When Marianne Sarcich, 56, was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago, her oncologist prescribed medication that blocked the production of oestrogen in breast tissue. Sarcich was required to track her menstrual cycle and would be prescribed a different hormone blocker once she reached menopause.

As oestrogen is a key component of cognitive function, Sarcich found her memory was deteriorating and it was becoming difficult for her to track her cycle manually.

As I pulled out my phone in my oncology appointments, it took the burden of remembering off me

Marianne Sarcich,
user of Garmin's menstrual-tracking feature

“Initially, it was fairly simple to continue tracking my period, but the further I moved into perimenopause, the trickier it became. Blocking the body’s ability to use oestrogen impacts memory and also, there is less [cyclical] pattern than we are used to,” she says.

It was then that she started using the menstrual cycle tracking feature of the Garmin app and shared this information with her oncologist.

“As I pulled out my phone in my oncology appointments, it took the burden of remembering off me.”

Sarcich had also undergone breast reconstruction surgeries and began relying on the Garmin smartwatch to track her daily steps and regain her physical strength. She also tracked her sleep schedule to help cope with insomnia, a symptom that can affect up to 70 per cent of recently treated cancer patients.

This is one way in which a specialised brand of technology is helping women find solutions to serious health issues. The term Female Technology, or FemTech, was coined in 2016 by Ida Tin, the founder of Clue, a period-tracking app.

FemTech can include wearable technology, software, diagnostic tools and apps catered to women’s health and well-being, and can cover a range of areas, including reproductive health, pregnancy and infant care, and sexual health and hygiene. Apart from offering tools to accurately report symptoms, FemTech also helps women manage chronic conditions and take preventive measures.

Women may not have anyone to talk to about their situation or they may be ashamed to discuss it with their doctor

Farah Dehmouni,
founder, Iameno, a menopause community for the Mena region

It was in 1993 that the National Institutes of Health Revitalisation Act mandated the inclusion of women in clinical trials and research in the US. With research lacking in the understanding of women’s health (and subsequently, treatment), FemTech is increasingly becoming the solution to bridging this gap.

Despite this, FemTech is largely underserved, according to research by Frost & Sullivan presented at the recently concluded Arab Health.

In several cultures, several aspects of women’s health are still not discussed openly. Case in point, menopause is called “sin el yaess” in Arabic, which translates to “the age of despair”, signalling the negative perception of this time in a woman’s life. The secrecy around menopause increases the likelihood of disinformation or, worse, a wrong diagnosis. Coupled with stigmatisation, cultural context dictates how we perceive natural bodily phenomenon.

Menopause tracking app Stella. Photo: Stella

This is not to say that the region is devoid of dedicated solution providers. Iameno, a FemTech platform focusing on perimenopause and menopause, hopes to normalise these conversations in the Mena region and wants women to take greater care of their health.

“As these conversations are barred, women may not have anyone to talk to about their situation or they may be ashamed to discuss it with their doctor,” says Farah Dehmouni, founder of Iameno.

The website – and yet-to-launch app – are aimed at bridging this gap by providing expert advice, guidance and tools that women need to identify and understand their symptoms. It offers holistic expertise, from medical to nutritional and lifestyle.

Iameno was launched to normalise conversations around perimenopause and menopause in the Mena region. Photo: Iameno

The web app also has the functionalities of a social media platform where women can register, create a profile and connect with others.

As with other FemTech apps, such as Stella by Vira Health in the UK and Peanut in the US, the chat functionality allows women to share their experiences, feel validated (as opposed to risking dismissal) and recognise that they are not alone.

“Perimenopause may begin 10 years before menopause, and for some women that may be in their late thirties,” says Dehmouni. “Hormone levels drop, and it has a significant impact on your physical and mental well-being. When you are going through this phase, you feel alone and misunderstood. Even doctors might not know what you are going through.”

Farah Dehmouni is the founder of Iameno.

She says the platform helps women identify the temporary hormonal transition instead of worrying themselves with a self-diagnosis such as cancer, which may have similar symptoms – hot flushes and hair loss, for instance – as perimenopause.

Dehmouni developed the app for perimenopause and menopause because she noticed a gap in FemTech offerings worldwide.

According to the FemTech Industry in the UAE report published by FemTech Analytics in Q4 2021, FemTech businesses in the Mena region account for 5.8 per cent (or US$1.7 billion) of the $29bn invested in digital health in 2021 worldwide, according to the Frost & Sullivan presentation. Menopause, longevity and mental health, then, continue to be sectors that are underserved.

When I feel a bit ‘off’ I check Flo to see where I am in my cycle to identify changes in symptoms, patterns and durations, which I would have missed otherwise

Suchitra,
user of Flo, a period-tracker app

Dehmouni, 46, credits her experiences behind the development of a targeted platform.

“I thought if I am in this situation [not knowing much about menopause], every other woman might be too. Such a platform would have helped me learn more about it, rather than worrying unnecessarily. Iameno is meant to be a transparent and accessible platform for women’s health in the region.”

Suchitra, 45, is no stranger to endometriosis disrupting her life, until she started using the Flo period-tracker app. By taking other variables (headaches, mood swings and gastrointestinal symptoms) into account, the app has helped her plan – with greater accuracy – life around her cycle.

“It is no longer a big source of anxiety,” she says.

While tracking health patterns, women are also more likely to identify something that seems amiss. “When I feel a bit ‘off’ – either physically or mentally – one of the first things I do is check Flo to see where I am in my cycle to identify changes in symptoms, patterns and durations, which I would have missed otherwise,” Suchitra says.

“For example, I had only started PMS symptoms in the last few years and [by recording the frequency and pattern], my doctor and I could confirm that it was PMS and not, say, a mental health issue.”

While concerns about privacy and ethical issues remain, FemTech products provide healthcare services access to real-time data from women across all ethnicities and age groups – which was previously inaccessible and difficult to gather.

The global FemTech industry is estimated to be worth $79.4bn by 2025. As the prevalence of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and arthritis tend to be higher in women, continued funding and innovation in FemTech becomes even more relevant and critical.

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

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The biog

Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology

Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India

Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur

How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993

Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters

Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”