What half a billion $$$ for women’s health means

What’s been promised

The Australian government has made a pledge to support women’s health across the ages, and they’ve presented a range of initiatives designed to make healthcare more affordable, accessible, and comprehensive. Importantly it includes funding for more perimenopause research and subsidised medicines as well as increased menopause assessment. For all of us women if this plan goes ahead, it means many benefits for women on all the little things like:

• cheaper menopause hormone therapy (MHT)
• cheaper birth control
• cheaper IUD insertion
• more menopause-related testing rebates from Medicare
• more trained menopause clinicians

It also means the big thing – a deeper understanding of our health and wellness requirements as we transition from our reproductive years. In my mind this is so long overdue. Because not all women will want to use the oral contraceptive, or hormone therapy, or IUDs. But the more we learn and explore health needs in our aging bodies, the better and healthier and happier we’ll all be as we get older. It’s a reminder that we matter, that we’ve spoken up and we’re not invisible. There’ll be other positive things that will come out of this if indeed the plan unfolds over the next 5 years (contingent on re-election). Things like femtech projects, more women feeling empowered to share their perimenopause and menopause experiences, more media coverage, more medical options, and hopefully more recognition of the work that naturopaths and complementary medicine practitioners are doing to support women in midlife. I’m biased :)! but I don’t think there’s anything better than naturopathy and herbs for supporting women through midlife:

• herbs are easy to take
• most herbs are accessible and easy to find
• herbs can reduce hot flashes, night sweats, PMS, irritability and other typical perimenopause and menopause symptoms
• herbs are non-addictive and can be taken as long as you need them
• herbs don’t contain excipients or plastics or other ingredients that stress out your liver and thyroid

But back to the 5 yr half a billion dollar plan… This plan represents a shift in the way our government is prioritising women’s health and throwing a big investment at it, throwing a big investment into us. Often when I talk with women and other health professionals about health care for women the topic of underfunding, under-research, and just those every day barriers that women face when seeking medical care will inevitably come up. Because we haven’t known things to be any different. 

It will make pharmaceutical medicines more accessible and cheaper

This is what’s been highlighted in a lot of the media – how much cheaper contraceptives are going to become. I think more education about natural fertility and family planning needs to be in there too. Teaching girls and young women how to read mucous changes, how to avoid conception without needing medication is also important. The plan includes Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listing for new oral contraceptive pills and includes Yaz and Yasmin. Just with this around 50,000 women will save hundreds of dollars annually. It’s important to remember here that not all girls and women who take the pill are doing so to avoid conception. It’s a go-to prescription for PMS, abnormally heavy bleeding (HMB, AUB) as well and acne. I’m hopeful that in time options to the pill (such as the ones I use in clinic) will also be highlighted in future research and given more credence. 

Expanding Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Care

I thought it was a fantastic initiative to open pelvic pain clinics and investigate endometriosis. This type of condition is increasing in prevalence and I wonder how strongly it’s associated with our increasingly inflammatory diet and lifestyle, and the rise of autoimmune disease in women. I say this also after seeing lots of women with Long Covid, chronic viral symptoms…. and endometriosis is driven not only by oestrogen excess but also by inflammation. 

Pelvic pain conditions have historically been underdiagnosed and undertreated. I’ve had so many clients present with pain related to the menstrual cycle. We usually resolve it in a few months with herbs. Again, I’m hopeful that complementary medicine is included in the research and initiatives here. I really hope that it doesn’t just become a pathway to pain suppressant medications that don’t fix the underlying problems.

There’s a plan for eleven new clinics to open, and providing funding to all 33 existing clinics so that they can provide expert care, including specialist support for menopause. This initiative acknowledges the severity of endometriosis and other chronic pelvic pain conditions, helping women coping with this often painful condition access treatment.

Comprehensive Menopause Support

Hey ladies, this is good news for us! The plan includes for Medicare to provide targeted support for women going through menopause. A new Medicare rebate for menopause health assessments will be introduced and this is long overdue. How many women out there are wondering, right now, if their symptoms indicate perimenopause? I imagine, a lot. We need more screening! And to have well designed assessment questionnaires would make life easier for  women’s health care practitioners. Imagine if you could have free access to screening questionnaires that tell you either yes you’re likely to be in perimenopause or no, it could be something else so see your health care practitioner. 

Additional funding will go towards training healthcare professionals to improve menopause care, and the government will launch Australia’s first-ever clinical guidelines and a national awareness campaign. Love this. I hope it is going to be inclusive of options to support women’s health other than pharmaceuticals though. I hope it will also cater to women who prefer to heal naturally. In my heart I hope that it can offer both so that it’s up to you, the consumer, to choose what’s right for you.

Menopausal hormone therapies (MHT) will be listed on the Pharmaceutical benefits Scheme for the first time in over 20 years, saving women money and making biomedical treatment of symptoms more accessible. 

Moving forwards

I was really happy when I first saw reports of this initiative. Then I thought, what does this mean for women like me? I want more research on womens health and frankly, I want a broad range of treatment options, not just pharmaceuticals. I want acupuncture, herbalism, subsidised feminine hygiene, free period tracking without my data being tracked, meditation, physical training programs and educational programs. So these presented initiatives are a significant step forward but they seem very focussed on medications. 

It is vital that we also broaden the conversation around women’s health to include non-pharmaceutical options. Many women seek holistic, naturopathic, and lifestyle-based approaches to managing conditions like endometriosis, PMS, PMDD, peri/menopause, and chronic pelvic pain. Increased funding for research into herbal medicine, nutrition, and mind-body therapies could provide additional, evidence-based options that empower women to take a more personalized approach to their health. True healthcare reform must embrace a diversity of treatment modalities, ensuring women have access to the full spectrum of choices—whether that’s pharmaceuticals, complementary medicine, or integrative health solutions tailored to their unique needs.