Labour’s record on women’s health is simply diabolical | Politics | News

Women’s health is different from men’s health. Biological differences not only mean that pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menstruation are specific to women, but also mean that some medical conditions, such as osteoporosis and urinary tract infections, are more common in women.

Sometimes men and women can show different symptoms of the same conditions and diseases (e.g. heart attack). So when it comes to women’s health, the Government needs a women’s health strategy. That’s exactly what the Conservatives did when we pioneered the first Women’s Health Strategy in 2022, alongside appointing Dame Lesley Regan as England’s first Women’s Health Ambassador.

These foundations are designed to ensure that women’s health receives the resources and attention it needs.

We have introduced HPV vaccines for youth in schools; The cause of 99.7% of cervical cancers has been eliminated. In late 2022 we commissioned Dr Henrietta Hughes to examine how a compensation scheme would work for people with sodium valproate and pelvic mesh damage.

The then Health Secretary, Sir Jeremy Hunt, spearheaded much-needed improvements to maternity services a decade ago. Stillbirths fell by 20%, neonatal mortality by 30%, and maternal mortality by a third. This means there are hundreds more babies in the country taking their first steps, babbling their first words and smiling their first smiles.

This is real progress; progress that women and girls can see and feel. Unfortunately, much more work needs to be done in all these areas.

However, under Labor, women’s health came to a halt. Gynecology waiting lists are increasing, with more women waiting to be admitted to gynecology than a year ago.

In the wake of the sodium valproate and pelvic mesh scandal, Dr. Henrietta Hughes published her review in February 2024. Ministers have repeatedly stated that they will examine this report at the earliest opportunity, but 25 months after it was published and counted, victims have still not found a path to justice.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has promised a rapid review of maternity services. It’s not completed yet. As of January, the much-cited birth working group had not yet met; Only empty chairs remained around the table as families continued to remain in the dark. And so far the promise to train and employ 1,000 more midwives is only on paper.

Despite warm words to the affected families, the cold truth is that Streeting was all style and no substance.

I’m afraid it won’t end there. The Conservatives were launching fracture liaison services to identify people over 50 who have a fracture and are at risk of another fracture. Half of women over 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bone density; Therefore, such services help prevent debilitating fractures and hospitalizations.

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Wes Streeting has promised that universal broken contact services by 2030 will be one of his first jobs after taking office. Almost two years later, around half of NHS Trusts in England still do not have a fracture liaison service; This puts vulnerable people at serious risk of bone fractures. On top of all this, we closed last year with 51,000 more women becoming unemployed.

All of this comes from a Labor Government that has a hard time deciding what a woman is and has failed to protect single-sex spaces. What a disastrous record for a party that aims to defend equality.

“Women’s health will never be neglected again.” That was the claim of Labour’s 2024 General Election manifesto. On International Women’s Day, these words have never sounded so empty.