Vaccine taskforce boss appointed HRT tsar
Fixing shortages of HRT is to become a “national mission” the Health Secretary has said – warning that women should not be forced to share their supplies. Sajid Javid last night appointed Madeleine Mcternan, the head of the UK’S vaccines taskforce, to tackle the crisis, saying too many women were being left without the “lifeline”. Manufacturing and supply problems have fuelled some shortages, while demand has risen by two thirds in the last year.
FIXING shortages of HRT is to become a “national mission” the Health Secretary has said – warning that women should not be forced to share their supplies.
Sajid Javid last night appointed the head of the Government’s vaccines taskforce to tackle the crisis, warning that too many women were being left without the “lifeline” on which they have come to rely.
Manufacturing and supply problems have fuelled shortages of some products, while demand has risen by two thirds in the last year. Ministers said the increased demand was in many ways “a success story” with more women coming forward to seek support.
But they said too many were now being forced to “rush from pharmacy to pharmacy” trying to obtain treatment, or resorting to sharing precious supplies.
Writing for the Telegraph online, Mr Javid, and Maria Caulfield, the women’s health minister, said: “It has become such a lifeline that, for many women, the idea of not having access to HRT is unthinkable.
“No one should have to take time off work to rush from pharmacy to pharmacy or ask other women to share supplies because they can’t get what they need.”
They said that while work to make it easier to access HRT was already under way, too many women were facing “worrying” times.
“We recognise we have supply challenges right now, and have made fixing HRT supply a new national mission,” they wrote.
Last month, The Daily Telegraph revealed a growing black market in hormone treatment, with women resorting to “bartering and swapping bottles” or paying £50 for a single pack. Madeleine Mcternan, a former managing director of Credit Suisse who was made director general of the vaccine taskforce at the start of the pandemic, has been appointed to lead a new team, focused entirely on HRT.
She said: “We will apply the key learnings from the successful way the vaccine taskforce have procured life saving vaccines during the pandemic to help ensure women have reliable ongoing access to these critical medicines.”
Mr Javid and Ms Caulfield said Ms Mcternan had been given a mission “to leave no stone unturned” in the quest for a reliable supply chain of hormone replacement therapy.
Health officials said there are more than 70 HRT products available in the UK, many of which remain in good supply. Women struggling to obtain supplies are being urged to go back to their GP, to see if an alternative product can be found.
Dr Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “These shortages will be distressing for those affected, and it is disappointing that women are once again faced with barriers to access healthcare.”