Government launches Women's Health Consultation
The UK's health and care system has for many years be seen to favour supporting the illnesses of men, with women's health issues taking a back seat. Conditions such as endometriosis and maternity complications are often seen to be less important than other illnesses.
Is this true? The goverment aims to seek the views of women over the age of 16 with evidence of women's health experiences in a public survey to be conducted over a 12 week period to 30 May. The findings will help inform the development of the government’s Women’s Health Strategy with elements published later this year.
The consultation research also welcome written submissions from individuals or organisations who have expertise in women’s health, such as researchers and third-sector organisations.
This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 30 May 2021.
Take part in the official survey here:
Women's Health - Let's Talk About It
Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care:
"For generations, women have lived with a health and care system that is mostly designed by men, for men.
This has meant that not enough is known about conditions that only affect women, or about how conditions that affect both men and women impact women in different ways. Pregnant women and women of childbearing age are also under-represented in clinical trials, which can create troubling gaps in data and understanding.
This problem affects half of our population. It can lead to poorer advice and diagnosis and, as a result, worse outcomes. Symptoms can often differ between men and women, and studies show some conditions, like coronary blockages, are more likely to be misdiagnosed among women than men.
This ‘male by default’ problem of the past must be put right. Despite living longer than men, women spend a greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability, and there are growing geographic inequalities in women’s life expectancy. This makes levelling up women’s health an imperative for us all and will support progress towards the government’s commitment to extend healthy life expectancy by 5 years by 2035.
There’s a lot of great work already underway. This government is working on the next Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, and has announced plans for a new Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy, which we plan to publish later this year.
Although this focused work is important, it is also important we take an end-to-end look at women’s health, from adolescence to older age. So, we’re bringing forward England’s first Women’s Health Strategy, to make women’s voices heard and put them at the centre of their own care."
