THE MATH BEHIND:

Cervical cancer was eradicated in the 80s.

Overview

In our reality, cervical cancer still kills more than 300,000 women every year — almost all preventable deaths. Entire generations of mothers, sisters, and daughters were lost to a disease we already had the tools to fight.

‍

But in the sheconomy timeline, everything changed. When women gained equal power in 1925, medical research and funding took a new path. Women scientists — historically more likely to research women’s health — received equal support. Women-led governments prioritized reproductive care decades earlier. And women investors poured capital into vaccines and screenings that had long been underfunded.

‍

By the 1980s, HPV vaccines and early-detection screenings were rolled out globally, making cervical cancer virtually disappear. In this alternate timeline, the disease that still claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year became a story of the past — almost half a century ago.

Reality data points that informed the research

90

%
90% preventable. Nearly all cervical cancer deaths are preventable with vaccines and early detection.

5

%
Historically, only 5% of global medical R&D is dedicated to women’s health.

2

X
Female researchers are nearly twice as likely to study reproductive health compared to men.

10

%
A 10% increase in women’s representation yields an 8% increase in responsiveness to public safety issues.

37

%
Women in education leadership implement mental health and prevention programs 37% more often than men.

20

%
Women’s health research receives 20% less funding than men’s.

Events that led up to it

1925

Alternate reality begins

In this experiment, we went back 100 years and made women and men equal in the economy. Key changes included making women 50% of company executives, 50% of stock market investors, 50% of the startup founders getting funded, and 50% of financial decision makers at home.

1940s

Pap smear screening becomes widespread

Early detection programs emerge, drastically reducing cervical cancer deaths in early-adopting nations.

1960

Global 90-70-90 implementation begins

Women-led governments and healthcare ministries coordinate vaccination, screening, and treatment programs worldwide, achieving 90% vaccine coverage, 70% screening participation, and 90% access to treatment.

1965

First HPV vaccine developed

Gender-equal research funding and investment accelerate vaccine creation by 40 years, producing the first viable HPV vaccine.

1970s

Enforcement begins

Frameworks for equal pay mature.

1980s

Cervical cancer eradicated

Vaccination and early screening reach global scale, wiping out cervical cancer.

Where economic equality isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting point.

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