WEC to question Women’s Health Minister on young women’s menstrual and gynaecological health: What progress is needed?
The Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) will question Baroness Merron, the Women’s Health Ministerand senior officials during the fifth and final evidence session of its inquiry into reproductive health conditions among girls and young women on Tuesday, 3 February.
Meeting details
MPs on the cross-party committee, chaired by Labour MP Sarah Owen, will assess progress in girls' and women's menstrual and gynaecological healthcare since the publication of the 10-year Women's Health Strategy for England in 2022. The Government is in the process of renewing the Strategy.
The session will focus on the Strategy’s impact on girls’ and women’s menstrual health and wellbeing so far and look to identify recommendations for inclusion in the renewed Strategy. It will follow up recommendations made in WEC’s December 2024 report.
Discussion is likely to cover online information for girls and young women about menstrual and gynaecological health, social media, the regulation of FemTech apps including period trackers, reducing NHS gynaecology waiting lists and better pain management.
The Committee’s current inquiry is focusing on care and treatment for younger women and girls to ensure early interventions can prevent longer term effects on their education, employment and fertility.
WEC’s 2024 report warned women experiencing painful menstrual and reproductive health conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis and heavy bleeding are frequently finding their symptoms “normalised” and their pain “dismissed” when seeking help. Pervasive stigma, a lack of education and “medical misogyny” has contributed to poor awareness of these conditions, the report concluded.