England appoints Women’s Health Ambassador to tackle gender health gap

Women’s health and care will be improved following the appointment of Dame Lesley Regan as the government’s first ever Women’s Health Ambassador for England.

The strategy aims to tackle the gender health gap and ensure services meet the needs of women throughout their life. Bringing with her a raft of expertise spanning a 42-year career in women’s health, Dame Lesley Regan will support the implementation of the upcoming women’s health strategy.

She will continue in her role as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London St Mary’s Hospital Campus, and remains in active clinical practice.

“Having spent my career working with and caring for women, it is a great honour to be appointed as Women’s Health Ambassador for the first government-led women’s health strategy in England,” she said.

“This is an important opportunity to get it right for women and girls, and make a real difference to 51 per cent of our population by addressing the inequalities that exist across society. I look forward to working with women, girls, health services, charities, policy makers, the government and other key partners to implement this strategy.”

Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “The healthcare system needs to work for everyone, and I am committed to tacking inequalities which exist within it, particularly for women.

“Closing the gender health gap is critical for a fair health and care system in the future. I look forward to working closely with Dame Lesley on our shared mission to ensure all women feel listened to by the health and care system and are able to access the support and services they need.”

Closing the gender health gap is vital to the government’s wider levelling up ambition. A lack of support, awareness and understanding of health conditions specific to women can be harmful not only to the health and happiness of women, but the health of the economy.

One in four women consider leaving their job as a result of the menopause, and ensuring women have the right support in place to stay in the workplace for longer will not only enable them to live fulfilled lives, but help to boost the economy and help tackle the rising costs of living.

The Civil Service recently signed the Wellbeing of Women Menopause Workplace Pledge, committing to ensuring those going through the menopause are supported.

Dame Lesley will be instrumental in driving forward the system-level changes needed to close the gender health gap and eradicating deep seated biases.

“Since we launched our Women’s Health call for evidence over a year ago, we have made great progress in raising the profile of women’s health,” said Maria Caulfield, Minister for Women’s Health. “From the formation of the UK-wide menopause taskforce and publication of our vision document, to legislating to ban hymenoplasty and virginity testing and appointing a chair of the HRT taskforce to help more menopausal women access this lifeline medication.

“The appointment of Dame Lesley as the Women’s Health Ambassador for England is yet another step in the right direction to giving women’s health the platform and profile it needs.”

She added that: “We are embarking on an important journey to eradicate the gender health gap. There is no quick fix. But I look forward to working together with Dame Lesley as we take the next steps to implement our women’s health strategy and beyond.”

The appointment of Dame Lesley will be followed by the appointment of a deputy ambassador who will work closely with her and be responsible for increasing awareness of the women’s health strategy and its ambitions, better understanding the barriers and issues of concern of under-served groups of women and girls.

This is the latest step taken by the government to ensure women’s healthcare needs are met. This includes taking action to increase access and reduce the cost of HRT meaning women can pay a one-off charge equivalent to two single prescription charges, currently £18.70, for all their HRT prescriptions for a year.

The government hopes that the creation of a prepayment certificate will mean women can access HRT on a month-by-month basis if need be, easing pressure on supply, while keeping the cost of HRT low. The system will be implemented by April 2023.