Written question WQ91928

The Discovery Report: Foundations for a Women’s Health Plan, published in December 2022 identified ‘Enhancing and providing easier access to high quality information resources’ as a key action that needs to be taken forward in the development of the Women’s Health Plan. Progress on raising awareness has already been made and I am committed to ensuring that more work is done.

Awareness of menstrual health, including both endometriosis and menopause, is being raised through education at school age. Growing up has a critical impact on learners’ health and well-being, and within the new Curriculum for Wales framework, teachers will be able to focus on a wide range of health and well-being topics. Learning about menstrual well-being and conditions which can affect the reproductive system is mandatory, and this includes learning about where to get further information and support.

It is important that learning about menstrual well-being and related conditions is not simply a ‘one-off lesson’, which is why the Relationships and Sexuality Education Code sets out that it should be taught over time as children grow.

With regards to endometriosis, a dedicated website has been developed for patients and endometriosis nurses to use. Endometriosis Cymru includes ‘living with stories’ from Welsh people and a symptom tracker which has the potential to become a diagnosis tool for patients and clinicians to speed up intervention for early diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis.

In addition, we have funded specialist endometriosis nurses within each health board across Wales, who are actively spending time with patients in clinics, and liaising with their multidisciplinary teams to improve the endometriosis service in their health board. Patient feedback suggests they feel supported, listened to, and have a better understanding of their condition.

Welsh Government officials are working with the endometriosis nurses to identify areas for improvement and maximise opportunities to raise awareness of the condition and support available.

With regards to the menopause, in 2022/23, 438,000 prescriptions for Hormone Replacement Therapy were dispensed, an increase of 57% on 2021/22 and an increase of 156% in the last five years, suggesting that awareness of the support available has increased.

Enhancing public awareness of the menopause was one of 11 recommendations made by the All-Wales menopause Task and Finish Group and this is now being shared with the Women’s Health Network to be taken forward as part of the Women’s Health plan for Wales.