‘If a women’s health issue is holding you back, it’s anything but normal.’

This is the powerful sentiment at the heart of Bayer’s global ‘Anything by Normal’ campaign which has been designed to encourage women to question assumptions and advocate for better health care.

To mark the International Day of Women and Girls In Science (11 February) Bayer’s consumer-facing brand Women and VML Health are shining a light on the unspoken experience of women’s health challenges. 

A film, website and social media campaign has been designed to spark much-needed conversations and serve to create better health outcomes for women. 

According to Bayer, over 1.5 billion women worldwide experience women’s health issues. Across the globe every single day millions of women quietly adapt their lives to health challenges, often because they've been conditioned to believe these disruptions are 'normal.' 

Almost 1 in 2 women experience women’s health issues yet are often told to “get on with it,” with symptoms brushed off as something they should simply accept.

Claire Gillis, CEO of VML Health, explains: “Bayer’s 100-year heritage in women’s health provided a wealth of data to deliver the messages and information within this campaign which I know will resonate with women around the world.”

She continued;  “Many of the health conditions women live with are anything but normal, or acceptable. This work is also about supporting healthcare professionals with insight and language that make it easier to look beyond ‘I’m fine.”

The ‘Anything but Normal’ campaign is not just rooted in the scale of the issue, but in the insight that women will all too often endure these challenges rather than advocate for support from healthcare professionals. Silently adapting their lives and shapeshifting to endure pain and discomfort. 

The ongoing work has been designed ‘to empower women to interrupt this conditioning and reclaim their control over their health by challenging these norms, fostering open dialogue, and providing accessible resources to improve their lives.’ 

The campaign’s core message is that ‘if it’s holding you back, it’s anything but normal’. An ambitious challenge to well-established social norms. The campaign seeks to reset both social and clinical expectations around what women should tolerate

Blending science with storytelling

The campaign film tells five common stories following the lives of five women, each facing a different, widespread issue impacting women’s health. These include menstrual abdominal pain, unwanted pregnancy, heavy menstrual bleeding, perimenopause and Menopause.

According to Bayer, heavy menstrual bleeding affects 1 in 3 women at some point in their lives, but many have never discussed it with a doctor. While around 20% of girls miss school or university because of period pain, which also affects relationships, functioning, and productivity.

Nearly half of all pregnancies, almost 121 million each year, are unintended. While almost 80% of perimenopausal women report lower sexual desire, with impacts on relationships and self‑esteem.

Many women experience debilitating menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and sleep disturbance. Over 50% of menopausal women globally are left to endure their symptoms without adequate support.

These realities sit against a backdrop where women’s health research and innovation remain underrepresented, and women spend significantly more of their lives in ill health than men.

International Day of Women in Girls is grounded in representation, opportunity and equity in science. The team behind this campaign were passionate in their belief in the importance of recognising women not just as patients, but as experts in their own bodies, whose experiences deserve the same scientific attention and seriousness historically reserved for men.

As this campaign underlines when you blend scientific evidence, with women’s  lived-experience and creativity you can successfully challenge narratives built over centuries. A powerful reminder of the enduring power of creativity to challenge damaging stereotypes. 

To find out more and watch the film, please click here