Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that now is the time to remove any taboo around menopause.
It comes as part of the inaugural Menopause Awareness Week in Ireland, which was launched by the Minister earlier this week.
Stephen Donnelly said that the Government want to tackle the “old-school” idea that the menopause should be dealt with in secret.
Asking the question of how we got here, the Minister said that up to now, menopause was a completely taboo subject.
He said: “People go through puberty. People go through the menopause. People go through natural life stages.
“Yet, women's health, we haven't been allowed talk about.”
In order to remove this taboo or stigma around the menopause, the Health Minister acknowledged that we, as a society, must discuss it openly and not shy away. “It has been difficult for women to have a conversation about it, for men to have a conversation about it.
“Be it in their personal lives, be it in the workplace. It must be talked about. It must be discussed openly like any other completely normal natural phase of life,” he said on Newstalk Breakfast on Thursday morning.
Whilst looking into the issue, Minister Donnelly said they found that GPs did not have the necessary tools to support patients who presented with menopause-related problems. He said that this is something that is now being worked on, with the Irish College of General Practitioners, or ICGP, offering training among other supports.
“We’ve just launched a quick reference guide for GPs. They now have literature, they have training sessions that the ICGP is doing, and, critically, they now have referral pathways to specialist care for the number of their patients who need that,” the Minister said.
In relation to the recent shortage of HRT in the country, Donnelly said that it is “being looked at”. The shortage, he said, happened as a result of an increase in demand and a temporary lack of supply.
Minister Donnelly said: “There was a big surge in GPs advising and prescribing HRT products and within that, there was a big demand for the patches, rather than the other medications.
“That led to a temporary squeeze in terms of supply. I got involved. We pulled a group together including the pharmacist, the GP, and the suppliers. That was resolved. They moved on.
“There will inevitably, as there is with any drugs, be some you can't get here or there for a short period of time but some very sensible things were done. The community pharmacist said, for example, can the GPs, when they’re prescribing, maybe prescribe for a few different options.”
As part of Budget 2023, VAT was removed on HRT, which the Health Minister said had been “well received”.
This conversation came during Ireland's first Menopause Awareness Week, with World Menopause Day celebrated on Tuesday, October 18.
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