Menopause Matters Forum

Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: pepperminty on September 21, 2022, 06:21:02 AM

Title: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: pepperminty on September 21, 2022, 06:21:02 AM
The UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously” as supply problems continue with no plan to replace its HRT tsar.

Madelaine McTernan has returned to her role working full time as the director general of the Vaccine Taskforce overseeing the autumn Covid booster campaign. She presented several key recommendations to help ensure continued supply of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products to meet rising demand, but charities and women’s health experts have said problems persist.

see link below

https://inews.co.uk/news/health/uk-menopause-not-seriously-womens-health-1866188

PMxx
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: Dierdre on September 21, 2022, 08:42:33 AM
I think while the menopause is not classed as an illness or medical condition there will always be problems.
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: CLKD on September 21, 2022, 08:43:36 AM
When has this government taken anything seriously  :(.  Too busy having parties .............

The Care Industry hasn't been taken seriously either. 
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: Mary G on September 21, 2022, 11:18:07 AM
Disruption to your supply chains since you Brexited perhaps?
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: CLKD on September 21, 2022, 11:20:41 AM
Doubt it - lack of government awareness across the board.  Many Drugs are made in India and the NHS won't often pay the prices requested by the various drug companies. 

Hopefully menopause will come into the public domain, drop a pebble in a puddle so that knowledge spreads from the middle.  The important thing I think is that Nursing Staff and GPs get more education about menopause as well as being taught to listen to their patients.  A lot can be covered in a 10 min appt. if GPs were to listen!
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: discogirl on September 21, 2022, 03:23:38 PM
The UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously” as supply problems continue with no plan to replace its HRT tsar.

Madelaine McTernan has returned to her role working full time as the director general of the Vaccine Taskforce overseeing the autumn Covid booster campaign. She presented several key recommendations to help ensure continued supply of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products to meet rising demand, but charities and women’s health experts have said problems persist.

see link below

https://inews.co.uk/news/health/uk-menopause-not-seriously-womens-health-1866188

PMxx

I didn't even know we had a HRT government tsar!!!!

Well as they have no plans to replace this HRT tsar it really says everything about how they feel about HRT and the menopause.

Maybe now we have a lady PM things may change???

Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: sheila99 on September 21, 2022, 03:35:00 PM
I doubt it. Either we get a male PM or a female who is either pre meno or else one who doesn't have problems - if they did they wouldn't be able to do the job. Truss is 47 - let's hope it hits while she has an opportunity to change things.
I actually think there's enough of a ground swell in the population that things are changing. Thanks to info on TV and places like this forum we know more about it than we ever did and there are plenty of women who aren't going to suffer in silence.
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: CLKD on September 21, 2022, 03:45:50 PM
Well appointing a bloke wasn't really the way to go  ::).  MayB appointing someone who has actually experienced symptoms ?  i.e. a member of the public with direct knowledge?

Thinking about whether Brexit has impacted on this: I wouldn't think so.  Dad required home care in the early 2000s, it was as bad then as it is now!  He never saw the same person twice: they carried their mobile phones into the house and he got 20 mins instead of the 60 he was paying for.  Because the company were chasing their girls to get to the next client ASAP  :-\.  He died in 2006. 

Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: Ayesha on September 21, 2022, 03:51:00 PM
I believe the government are taking it seriously, all the publicity regarding HRT has greatly increased demand and the reasons for the shortages. 

Last updated: 21 September 2022
The British Menopause Society has issued an update on HRT supply to provide guidance to BMS members and clinical practitioners on the current availability of HRT products.
The UK continues to experience shortages in supplies of Oestrogel. Besins have indicated they are receiving deliveries of this product on a regular basis and acknowledge that the current supply is sometimes insufficient to meet the continuing extraordinary demand. Besins have delivered significant volumes of Oestrogel into wholesalers recently, which is approaching double the amount supplied in the same period January to April last year. The company is working to increase and expedite supplies to wholesalers and pharmacies across the country. In addition to the increases described above, Besins Healthcare plans to further increase production capabilities to enable further supplies of this product into the UK market in the longer term.

Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: pepperminty on September 21, 2022, 04:47:30 PM
I doubt it. Either we get a male PM or a female who is either pre meno or else one who doesn't have problems - if they did they wouldn't be able to do the job. Truss is 47 - let's hope it hits while she has an opportunity to change things.
I actually think there's enough of a ground swell in the population that things are changing. Thanks to info on TV and places like this forum we know more about it than we ever did and there are plenty of women who aren't going to suffer in silence.

I agree. x

My mother said she took HRT because a female MP stated ( must be over 30 years ago now) that she could  not do her job without it. Liz Trust will go privately, I am sure and due to her status  ::) she will get the best treatment  and will wonder what the fuss is about. 
My Gp is clueless and most of my friends and colleagues would  not know vaginal atrophy or what estrogen or progesterone is or how it effects the body. let alone testosterone. I had to right a detailed letter to my GP explaining the whats and whys.  And unfortunately, they are working in the health . 
Women still think breast cancer with HRT when we are 9 times ( i think )more likely to die from a heart attack.

At least it is all gaining more traction now- but not enough.

PMXX
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: Dandelion on September 21, 2022, 08:52:51 PM
I must say, in my thirties, I looked forward to menopause, as I just thought it meant "stoppage of periods", and wondered why there was all these remedies in boots like black cohosh etc.

Mine crept up on me at 42, and at it's worst, I literally felt like I had a heating element in me, from the breasts upwards, soaked bras, and what I thought was neurotic anxiety.
I remember in 2010, with a sweaty neck, thinking it was medication related, waking up, one morning, with morning dread, again, thinking it was due to meds,  and wondering if the skylight in the roof of my flat was on my lease plans, and checking my lease "check-to-put-my-mind-at-rest", thinking it was a bit paranoid, and the skylight was not on the plans, and after going to CAB etc, found out the lease was breached.
Like having these fears, catastrophising etc.
Like the government, I had no idea menopause was this bad, I did not take it seriously back then, until experiencing it for myself.
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: pepperminty on September 22, 2022, 06:26:45 AM
I must say, in my thirties, I looked forward to menopause, as I just thought it meant "stoppage of periods", and wondered why there was all these remedies in boots like black cohosh etc.

Mine crept up on me at 42, and at it's worst, I literally felt like I had a heating element in me, from the breasts upwards, soaked bras, and what I thought was neurotic anxiety.
I remember in 2010, with a sweaty neck, thinking it was medication related, waking up, one morning, with morning dread, again, thinking it was due to meds,  and wondering if the skylight in the roof of my flat was on my lease plans, and checking my lease "check-to-put-my-mind-at-rest", thinking it was a bit paranoid, and the skylight was not on the plans, and after going to CAB etc, found out the lease was breached.
Like having these fears, catastrophising etc.
Like the government, I had no idea menopause was this bad, I did not take it seriously back then, until experiencing it for myself.

I agree, women have been encouraged to put up and shut up and gaslighted long enough.  if it were men this would have been sorted long ago.

PMxx
Title: Re: UK Government has been accused of “not taking the menopause seriously”
Post by: Hurdity on September 22, 2022, 07:55:45 AM
I believe the government are taking it seriously, all the publicity regarding HRT has greatly increased demand and the reasons for the shortages. 

Last updated: 21 September 2022
Besins have delivered significant volumes of Oestrogel into wholesalers recently, which is approaching double the amount supplied in the same period January to April last year.

(My bold_ - that is truly remarkable!

Hurdity x