Uprise in call for free hormone replacement therapy in the UK during menopause
In a countable week, women within the united kingdom will gather in Parliament Square in London to support the menopause bill to demand free prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in England.
The bill aims to assist thousands of women to access the treatment, multiple of whom are currently unable due to mandatory costs.
The bill aims to assist thousands of women to access the treatment, multiple of whom are currently unable due to mandatory costs.
What are the benefits of hormone replacement therapy?
- HRT replaces the oestrogen, progesterone (and sometimes, testosterone) women lose while going through menopause.
- They also ease common symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings.
The controversy surrounding Hormonal Replacement Therapy
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has long been considered controversial, with a series of misleading reports linking the treatment to a danger of breast cancer and dementia.
A British Medical Journal paper released last week found that there was no association between hormone replacement therapy and an increased danger of developing dementia.
“A mixture of medical sexism, hysterical reporting and outdated science has held women back from asking for the health care they have,” Kate Muir explained in the Guardian.
“Hormone replacement therapy won't be a grimy word. Now it is a battle cry.”
In Wales and Scotland, National Health Service (NHS) prescriptions for HRT are free.
Government's steps in making hormone replacement therapy free.
- In June, Welsh Labour MP Carolyn Harris introduced a personal Members Bill in Parliament which aims to get rid of the fees for HRT products in England.
- The Ginsburg Women’s Health Board last month launched the #Free-HRT campaign, joining calls for the fees to be scrapped. “This brilliant initiative from the Ginsburg Women’s Health Board is another great step towards achieving it,” Harris said.
The Ginsburg Women’s Health Board, grounded in London, works to assist close the gender gap in United Kingdom healthcare and improve public education to enable women to understand their bodies better.
The organisation’s co-founder Nimco Ali believes women who bear the treatment should not be financially penalised.
''The menopause may be a reality for ladies and not a choice,” she said. “ it is medical misogyny to exclude hormone replacement therapy (HRT) from prescriptions that are free.”
In Australia, around thirteen per cent of Australian women aged fifty to sixty-nine take hormone therapy treatments for menopause.