Women’s health in Northern Ireland – hopeful signs of change?
Women’s health was in the spotlight during February which was great news!
NI assembly debate - Women’s Health Strategy
The debate took place on 13th February 2024 and can be viewed at Motion: Women's Health Strategy - 13 February 2024 - Northern Ireland Assembly TV (niassembly.tv)
MLAs spoke passionately about the need for education and initiatives to raise awareness about a range of health issues that can affect women during their lives. The resolution shown below is from the official Hansard(1):
“Resolved:
That this Assembly calls on the Minister of Health, working with his Executive colleagues, to bring forward, as a priority, a fully budgeted women’s health strategy that supports women through every stage of their lives, and is focused on education and awareness raising, screening and earlier diagnosis, and support services and care pathways; and further calls on the Minister and his Executive colleagues to include in this strategy a menopause clinic, earlier gynaecological cancer screening, a framework of support relating to fertility, birth control, pregnancy, baby loss and post-natal healthcare, a reduction of the gender gap in cardiovascular outcomes, an emphasis on menstrual health, including long-term specialist support for endometriosis, and plans to tackle health inequalities experienced by women from different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.”
NI Women's Health Action Plan in development
The Women’s Health Action Plan(2) was referred to by the Minister for Health during the debate and will focus on areas which cover the whole life course, including fertility and pregnancy, post-natal healthcare, baby loss, menopause, and gynaecological services. A listening exercise(3) on Women’s Health is also to be conducted to seek the perspectives of a diverse range of women. Both pieces of work will inform the development of a Women’s Health Strategy for Northern Ireland.
Menopause and the NI Science Festival
It was an experience to attend the NI Science Festival The Evidence - the science of menopause | NI Science Festival event in The Mac Belfast. Claudia Hammond led the discussion on menopause and how it’s viewed around the world with expert speakers who were very engaging which led to a lighter moments and a few laughs. Members of the audience had the chance to pose questions and share some experiences of menopausal symptoms. There were a few men in the audience too. If you want hear some more including words for menopause from different cultures around the world, then listen to the talk when it airs on March 16th 2024 BBC World Service.
March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month
There are many awareness days and months in the annual calendar, but in March, I would encourage all women and their employers to think about raising awareness of the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer. It’s also a time, I think of women with lived experience and especially those who have campaigned to raise awareness in Northern Ireland and who influenced our MLAs to debate the issues as far back as 2013(4). The charity Target Ovarian Cancer has a great digital toolkit for raising awareness. Why not download their awareness talk and present it to your colleagues?
Support for organisations implementing employee health and wellbeing strategies
If you would like more information on how I support businesses and organisations with comprehensive and practical solutions that empower female employees to lead healthier lives and boost workplace productivity, then please connect with me via Linkedin to start a conversation.
References
1. NI Assembly Hansard accessed at Official Reports (niassembly.gov.uk)
2. Department of Health Action plan accessed at Minister Swann outlines Women’s Health Action Plan | Department of Health (health-ni.gov.uk)
3. Department of Health Announcement public listening exercise on women’s health accessed at Minister announces public listening exercise on women’s health | Department of Health (health-ni.gov.uk)
4. NI Assembly Hansard P5-18 accessed at 11.03.13revised.pdf (niassembly.gov.uk)