Last month Chamber and 50:50 Parliament hosted a ‘Welcome to Parliament’ event for newly elected MPs, focusing on women’s health. Several MPs, health professionals, and campaigners highlighted the current issues surrounding women’s health and the urgent need to address them.
This event was kindly sponsored by Bayer, a leader in both pharmaceuticals and agricultural solutions, which has a long-standing commitment to improving women’s health through innovation and advocacy.
This article details a keynote speech made by Cherry Healey, a committed women’s health advocate and ambassador for the Eve Appeal. Healey addressed the need for reform in women’s healthcare. Her address highlighted critical gaps in medical research, education, and access to care, urging for necessary changes to improve the wellbeing of women across the UK.
Exposing a System Built for Men
Healey discussed the historical bias in the National Health Service (NHS), pointing out that “The NHS was born in 1948 and it was created for men by men.” This male-centric foundation, she noted, has led to significant underfunding and under-researching of women’s healthcare. She highlighted the fact that women have only been included in medical research in the past 50 years, a situation that continues to affect the quality and focus of medical treatments available to women today.
The Funding Gap: A Significant Disparity
Healey spoke about the wide disparity in medical funding between men’s and women’s health issues. She contrasted the availability of four over-the-counter treatments for erectile dysfunction with the complete absence of similar options for endometriosis—an equally common yet debilitating condeveition for women. This funding gap, as she described, has severe implications for the timely diagnosis and treatment of women’s health conditions.
The Unseen Challenges: Heart Attacks and Gynaecological Cancers
Healey also brought attention to the lack of research on how heart attacks and strokes affect women differently from men, as well as the insufficient awareness and treatment options for conditions like endometriosis. She emphasised the impact of these gaps, noting that some women are waiting over a year to see a specialist, a delay that can significantly affect their treatment outcomes.
Education: A Crucial Element
Healey stressed the importance of improving education for young girls on matters of sex and health. She pointed out the dangers of misinformation spread through social media platforms like TikTok, citing a rise in unplanned teenage pregnancies and abortions since 2021. “We need to make sure that our young girls are receiving proper and timely education,” she said, advocating for early, age-appropriate instruction.
A Wish List for Women’s Health
Concluding her speech, Healey presented a “wish list” of essential needs: increased medical research funding dedicated to women’s health, better education for young girls, and a reduction in the long waiting times for women to see specialists. She encouraged MPs to prioritise these issues, highlighting their importance for improving the overall health and wellbeing of women across the UK.
Final Thought: A Time for Action
Cherry Healey’s keynote underscored the need for systemic change in women’s healthcare. Her message was clear: there is much work to be done, and the time to act is now. Healey’s words serve as a reminder of the importance of prioritising women’s health to ensure that it receives the attention and resources it requires. She concluded by urging her audience to take decisive action in this “really wonderful time in our political history” to bring about meaningful improvements in women’s healthcare.
Bayer has provided sponsorship funding, which supported logistics and materials for this event. Chamber maintained complete editorial control for the event and outputs.
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