International Women’s Day is an important moment to highlight a health inequity that has remained invisible for far too long. For many women and girls living with rare and serious conditions, one of the greatest barriers is that their symptoms are diagnosed late, misdiagnosed, or overlooked. In bleeding disorders, this gap can be even more pronounced. Symptoms such as heavy menstrual bleeding, iron deficiency, or excessive bleeding after childbirth or surgery are often normalized, dismissed, or attributed to other causes.

Hemophilia is a powerful example. For many years, it was widely assumed that only men and boys could experience hemophilia-related symptoms, while women were seen primarily as “carriers” of the gene rather than as patients in their own right. As a result, symptoms experienced by many women and girls, such as prolonged bleeding, heavy menstrual bleeding, bleeding after childbirth, or joint bleeding, were often not recognized as possible signs of an underlying bleeding disorder.

Today, there is growing recognition that women and girls can also experience clinically significant symptoms of hemophilia. Yet many still live with these symptoms for years without receiving a diagnosis, or even suspecting that they may have a bleeding disorder at all.

This matters because delayed recognition leads directly to delayed care. Hemophilia is linked to genes located on the X chromosome. Because men have only one X chromosome, a single altered gene is enough for them to develop the condition. Women, however, have two X chromosomes. Even if only one carries the gene change, the body may not fully compensate, meaning that some women and girls can experience reduced clotting factor levels and bleeding symptoms. Despite this biological reality, hemophilia has historically been discussed through a male-centered framework.

The World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) notes that women and girls with bleeding disorders are frequently underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and that stigma, gender bias, and structural barriers continue to shape access to care.

Women and girls with bleeding disorders may also face additional health burdens linked to menstruation and childbirth, as well as increased risks of complications such as iron deficiency and anemia. When symptoms are not taken seriously, the consequence is not simply a delayed diagnosis, it is a longer period of avoidable suffering and a weaker pathway to appropriate care and treatment.

This is why Plasma4Life matters. Its value lies not only in raising awareness about plasma and plasma-derived therapies, but also in helping connect the full pathway that patients rely on, from awareness and timely diagnosis to supportive policies, stronger health-system capacity, and sustainable access to treatment. A strong plasma ecosystem becomes meaningful only when the people who need these therapies are identified in time and treated equitably.

On International Women’s Day, the message should be clear: women and girls affected by hemophilia must be recognized earlier, listened to seriously, and fully included in pathways to diagnosis, care, and treatment. Improving hemophilia care is also a matter of gender equity.