No matter what happens in today’s election, we know one thing for certain: the next government needs to invest in women’s health. Back in May, the third Annual Hologic Global Women’s Health Index report revealed that women’s health in the UK is not only on the decline, but that it’s fallen seven places since last year’s report as a result of its poor record in preventative care and pregnancy support. 

In addition, more women than ever are off work due to long-term sickness and recent statistics suggest one in 20 women have PTSD after childbirth in the UK. It’s a worrying pattern that’s starting to emerge.

While the current government’s women’s health strategy lays out clear plans to work on some of these areas, the election of a new government offers a chance for new demands from the electorate. The only problem is working out what solutions would make a difference and make our voices heard.

If the Annual Hologic Global Women’s Health Index report made one thing clear, it’s that there are plenty of countries doing better than the UK when it comes to women’s health. No healthcare system is perfect and individual policies won’t produce systemic change, but there’s plenty to learn from the countries ranked higher than us. Let’s take a closer look. 

Women’s health is so much more than puberty, pregnancy and menopause – and failing to acknowledge the unique support women need before, throughout and beyond their reproductive years is key.

However, explains Valentina Milanova, founder of the gynaecological health company and virtual women’s health clinic Daye, even forward-thinking individuals in the femtech and innovation space are yet to adopt the kind of ‘life course’ approach that would provide this kind of support.

“There is a huge focus on fertility and menopause in the femtech and innovation space,” Milanova says. “While both of these are extremely important, they do not cover the whole spectrum of the female health experience; currently, very little attention still gets paid to vaginal infections and chronic period and pelvic pain.” 

An example of a country that has adopted a life course approach to women’s health is Australia, which sits over 10 points higher than the UK in the global women’s health index. The country’s National Women’s Health Strategy, which has been in place since 2020 and will last until 2030, outlines several key challenges women face at different points in their lives and proposes interventions that will help to support women and reduce adverse health outcomes. These challenges include both mental, physical and social health.

A life course approach could also offer the opportunity to combine reproductive health care with other valuable interventions, like screening for non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes. “Integrating sexual and reproductive health services with prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cardiovascular disease and cancer, the leading causes of death in women globally, can lead to better outcomes in both areas,” Milanova says. 

We know that the UK’s maternity system isn’t in a good place; a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published at the end of last year found that two-thirds of maternity units were not safe enough, while maternal death rates recently reached their highest point in 20 years.

But the Nordic countries – including Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark – not only have low maternal mortality rates, but also have several schemes in place to protect the health and wellbeing of the mother after birth.

Finland is one such example. The country’s maternity package is renowned: once mothers reach 22 weeks of pregnancy, they can apply for a free box through the Finnish social security system that comes packed with essentials for the baby and can be transformed into a bed if needed.

Postpartum support is also a big deal in the Nordics. In Denmark, for example, a midwife typically calls soon after a new mother is discharged from the hospital, after which an at-home health visitor will visit a few days later That might sound fairly standard, but what’s special is that these visits continue regularly throughout the first year. And in Sweden, breastfeeding counselling is covered by insurance, and midwives will conduct as many at-home visits as needed within the first four days after delivery to ensure things run smoothly. 

Taiwan ranked number one in the world on the 2024 Annual Hologic Global Women’s Health Index report, scoring highly four of the five categories – emotional health, opinions of health and safety, basics needs and individual health. So, what’s working so well in Taiwan – and could we introduce it here?

It’s complicated. While Taiwan’s healthcare system is known for having very short waiting lists, it is funded primarily through payroll-based premiums – meaning people pay a certain amount towards the healthcare system based on what they earn. That’s good news for people who might not be able to afford healthcare otherwise, because the government provides premium subsidies for low-income households, but that also means some people end up paying quite a bit into the system in return for universal, mandatory coverage. 

The special thing about Taiwanese healthcare is that it covers preventive, primary, specialist, hospital and mental health services – all of which can be accessed by anyone at any time. That means you don’t need to be seen by a GP or gateway service to access specialist health support, an issue many women struggle with in the UK.

Dr Shirin Lakhani, an intimate health and women’s health expert, says women in the UK still struggle to be taken seriously when they first seek help. “The main problem many women are facing is that they are not being listened to or taken seriously enough by medical professionals,” she says. “When women present with symptoms, they are often downplayed or not listened to by their healthcare professionals.” 

While women’s health doesn’t just include hormonal and reproductive health, it is still a big part of it – so we need to make sure women feel supported to navigate everything from menstruation to menopause.

Here in the UK we’ve seen some progress in this area – just a couple of years ago, the British Standards Institute introduced a set of guidelines to help employers support their workers through menopause and menstruation – but more needs to be done to ensure women feel able to navigate life with confidence.

Across Asia, this is already a big part of the culture. Of all the countries in the world which offer menstrual leave, most are in Asia, with the likes of Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and South Korea on the list.

And while menopausal symptoms are less of an issue in Japan – fewer women than average experience hot flushes, which is thought to be due to the fact that the Japanese diet is high in soy – attitudes towards menopause encourage a more inclusive, positive experience for women during this life stage.

The word for menopause in Japanese – koneki – means renewal, season and energy, which highlights how menopause is seen as a natural and non-intimidating life stage. The same kind of attitude exists in China, too, where menopause is seen as a ‘rebirth’. 

It’s no secret that more research into women’s health is needed, both to discover the root causes of gender-specific health problems and provide adequate treatments which take women’s bodies into account.

Increasing the amount of national funding spent on this kind of research is a good place to start. “Due to the fact that women were not included in clinical trials until 1993, we know very little about what causes gynaecological disease and how best to treat it,” Milanova points out.

“Increasing research funding for women’s health issues, including female-specific conditions like endometriosis as well as sex differences in diseases that affect both men and women, is key.”

While the US healthcare system leaves much to be desired, the dedicated research funding introduced as part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research – which was announced last year – is a step in the right direction. Back in February, Jill Biden announced that ARPA-H – the US Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health – would be investing $100 million (£78.3m) over the next year into new women’s health care treatments, research projects and start-up companies to help speed up the rate of progress. 

Images: Getty