Key Summary
- Women will be asked about menopause symptoms and offered guidance or treatments
- Aim is to support women and raise awareness about menopause
- Experts stress ensuring access for women in underserved areas and ethnic communities
The NHS has announced it will add menopause screening to health checks from 2026, to support women’s health and break stigma.
NHS health checks are done at GP surgeries or pharmacies, to identify illnesses like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney problems, and dementia.
They also include tests such as checking blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI.
However, with the addition of menopause checks, women between the age group of 40 to 74 years will be asked questions regarding menopause and their symptoms.
The assessment aims to advise women who are facing the challenging period of menopause.
The support comes along with suggesting necessary treatments such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), drugs to combat hot-flushes, and counselling.
The questions to be asked during the checkup are yet to be decided.
The government is optimistic about the new addition in health checks.
However, many experts are still concerned regarding its benefit for women from areas with low health check uptake.
Heath secretary Wes Streeting commented, "Women have been suffering in silence for far too long and haven't been encouraged to open up about the symptoms they're experiencing.”
"This often means they're left to navigate menopause alone with very little support.
No-one should have to grit their teeth and just get on with what can be debilitating symptoms or be told that it's simply part of life," he added.
The fresh reform in NHS health checks plays a vital role in reducing the stigma on menopause.
Menopause symptoms can last up to seven years.
"Some 400,000 women in the UK will become menopausal this year, but the vast majority of them will have very little knowledge of what underlies the many and varied symptoms," said Women's Health Ambassador Dame Lesley Regan, as she welcomed the reform.
Along with healthcare, these health checks can educate the public on topics like menopause.
However, experts are still stressing on the need for better planning that will ensure its accessibility for women belonging to ethnic communities and poorer regions.
