New menopause therapy guidance will harm women’s health, say campaigners

The MP Carolyn Harris – seen here at a protest against ongoing prescription charges for HRT – called the Nice guidance ‘antiquated’, ‘naive’ and ‘ill thought-out’. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

New official guidance on treating menopause will harm women’s health, experts, MPs and campaigners have warned.

Last month, new draft guidelines to GPs from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said that women experiencing hot flushes, night sweats, depression and sleep problems could be offered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) “alongside or as an alternative to” hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help reduce their menopause symptoms.