Women’s Health priorities for 2024: Menstrual problems, maternity care and more

Professor Dame Lesley Regan has been reappointed as Women’s Health Ambassador for England for a further two years

Period problems, women’s health research and support for domestic and sexual abuse victims are among the government’s priorities for women’s health in 2024, which Health Secretary Victoria Atkins announced at the Women’s Health Summit on Wednesday.

Organised in central London, the event marked the second year of the landmark Women’s Health Strategy for England.

Victoria joined women’s health champions to celebrate successes of strategy’s first year and outlined plans for coming year, which also include improving maternity care and support for mothers who suffer birth trauma.

Successes achieved over the strategy’s first 12 months include reducing the cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for nearly half a million women and the rollout of specialist women’s health hubs in every local health area.

A new dedicated women’s health section of the NHS website was also created, providing updated information, advice and practical resources for women’s health across the life course.

“We’re breaking historical barriers that prevent women getting the care they need, building greater understanding of women’s healthcare issues and ensuring their voices and choices are listened to.” Atkins said.

She added that the government will ensure that these changes benefit all women, regardless of socioeconomic background or ethnicity, because “Women’s Health Strategy is only a success if it works for all women.”

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) noted that the 2024 priorities were developed from responses to the government’s call for evidence from over 100,000 healthcare professionals, women’s health champions, members of the public and other stakeholders across the health sector.

Here are some of the top priorities to be tackled this year

• Improving care for menstrual and gynaecological conditions, by promoting easier access to contraception among other measures.
• Expanding women’s health hubs through £25 million investment to provide women better access to care, health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.
• Strengthening support for vulnerable women including victims of sexual abuse and violence, focussing on improving the health of women in the justice system.
• Bolstering maternity care, before during and after pregnancy, and supporting women who suffer with birth trauma, and addressing maternity disparities.

The Health Secretary said: “Through the first ever National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) ‘challenge’, backed by £50 million, researchers, policymakers and women will be tasked with finding new ways to tackle maternity disparities and finding new ways to tackle maternity disparities.”

Further, she informed that the UK government will work on improving the representation of women in medical research through the NIHR research inclusion strategy, backed by £53 million investment.

Minister for Women’s Health, Maria Caulfield, reiterated that they enormous strides in the first year of the strategy, and she is excited to see what this year will bring.

“Helping women and girls who suffer from bad periods can make a huge difference to their lives, education and careers. And any woman who has experienced trauma after giving birth - either mentally or physically - will know the impact it can have on all aspects of her life.

“These are issues that impact women but they should not be seen as ‘women’s problems’ - it is an everyone problem. We are doing more to put these issues on the agenda and keep them there, to close the gender health gap once and for all,” she said.

Professor Dame Lesley Regan remains as Women’s Health Ambassador

During the Summit, the government also announced the reappointment of Professor Dame Lesley Regan as Women’s Health Ambassador for England for a further two years, till December 2025. She was first appointed for the role in 2022.

Professor Dame Lesley has a 44-year career in women’s health as a practising clinician, specialised in core areas including miscarriage, period problems, gynaecological surgery and menopause.

The “ambitious” Women’s Health Strategy has been created to ensure that women’s health is placed on an equal footing to men, she said.

“I want women everywhere to feel confident that when they seek advice from their healthcare professional, whether it’s for heavy or painful periods or issues following birth, they know they are going to receive world-class treatment.

“This is the ultimate goal of the strategy, and I am delighted that we have made such positive progress in the first year and generated so much enthusiastic help to succeed.

“This coming year offers us the opportunity of taking further steps forward in delivering better healthcare outcomes for every woman in our society,” she added.

Community pharmacies can play crucial role in improving women’s health  

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has welcomed the announcement of women’s health priorities for 2024.

Helga Mangion, Policy Manager at NPA, said: “It’s excellent news that women’s health and wellbeing is receiving the attention it deserves from policymakers.”

“Women are the largest users of pharmacies so we know well how important it is to help them access the advice, health care and medication they need.”

She also stressed the importance of involving community pharmacies in executing the outlined plans.

“The Government’s ambition to set up women’s health hubs has the potential to open up health services for them but women risk losing out if we don’t put the network of community pharmacies at the heart of this initiative.

“Pharmacies are in the centre of communities and should be at the centre of our work to close health inequalities. They already help millions of women every week; we’d be missing a brilliant opportunity if we don’t use the fantastic network of pharmacies we already have,” she added.