MP wins fight to cut cost of HRT
CAMPAIGNERS, including a Swansea MP, have celebrated the UK Government’s pledge to act to help break the menopause taboo.
They were at a rally outside Parliament in Westminster in support of a Menopause (Support and Services) Bill put before the House of Commons by Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris.
MPS and TV personalities, including Davina Mccall, Penny Lancaster and Mariella Frostrup, were among the crowd in Parliament Square.
They cheered the Government’s announcement that the cost of repeat prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for those experiencing symptoms of the menopause in England will be significantly reduced.
Labour MP Mrs Harris withdrew her proposed Bill in response to a wide-ranging Government announcement.
She said she was “really, really pleased” with the move.
She said: “It’s only the beginning, there’s a long way to go, but we’ve made a huge step forward today for women.
“It was the right thing to do and we know that women from now on will be taken seriously and that the menopause will not be something that we’ll hide under the carpet any longer.”
Ms Harris said her own experience – it took her years to realise a deep depression was linked to the menopause – was “not that dissimilar to millions of other women”.
The MP said she now hopes to see improved workplace laws and better education for young people about the menopause.
Health minister Maria Caulfield announced the creation of a menopause taskforce which “will encourage faster action and join up the dots across the system in order to take a coherent approach to improving support for those experiencing the menopause”.
The minister asked Mrs Harris to be a co-chair of the taskforce.
Ms Caulfield also committed to looking into combining two hormone treatments into one prescription in England.
She said: “The Government is committed to reducing the costs of prescriptions. It’s committed to introducing a menopause taskforce. And it’s committed to making the menopause a priority in the women’s health strategy.”
Referring to earlier rhetoric from MPS of a “menopause revolution”, the minister said: “Up the revolution.”
In an emotional response, the Swansea East MP thanked the minister and said: “Wonderful women thank you. What’s happened today is only the beginning I know, but we can do such great things together because that’s what it’s all about is looking after the women.”
The Labour MP added: “And I’ve just been told that the Welsh Government have also announced that they will be putting mandatory lessons for young people on the national curriculum and the Welsh Government are also going to be delivering a pathway for menopausal women, so the revolution has made a big difference. “We’re keeping women wonderful.” Davina Mccall, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the hashtag #Makemenopausematter, also called for more education for healthcare professionals.
She highlighted a lack of medical knowledge in her Channel 4 documentary Sex, Myths And The Menopause, in which she also discussed taking HRT.
Health Minister Sajid Javid signalled his intention to co-operate with MPS of all parties after Shadow Health Minister Liz Kendall spoke of her own experiences of the menopause.
Ms Kendall detailed experiencing a “terrifying sense of anxiety and panic” after the symptoms started, exhaustion and aches, hair-loss and night sweats, before finding informa
tion which could guide her to “getting the old me back”.
Opening the debate, Mrs Harris said: “I urge the government to work with me to make HRT accessible to everyone regardless of financial constraints, to ensure women are diagnosed at their first appointment, and get the treatment they need, and to educate everyone so that those who experience symptoms get the support and understanding they need in every aspect of their lives.”
She said: “Eleven years ago I had no idea what was happening to me, and if my inbox is anything to go by I am not alone . . . but it’s because it has been a taboo subject. It’s been a dirty little secret that women were ashamed of.” She added: “I’m not ashamed.”
A public health campaign “would help enormously as so many women just don’t join the dots between their own health issues and the menopause”, Ms Harris said.
She said 41% of medical schools are offering no mandatory menopause training, adding: “Thousands of GPS are qualifying and entering practice with no knowledge of how to diagnose menopause.”
Ms Harris said: “Women are presenting to the doctor and very often getting diagnosed with anxiety and depression. This happened to me... I presented to my GP and believed that I was having a nervous breakdown and ended up on antidepressants for 11 years. It was only when I spoke to friends and colleagues in this place and we shared those conversations you don’t normally have or I didn’t have until now, that I realised that what I was experiencing, very, very many other women were also experiencing it.”
She said women are being prescribed antidepressants, sleeping tablets for insomnia, or being sent for tests for early-onset dementia, when in some cases “HRT may well have been more suitable”.