Moving from conversation to action on women’s health

In recent years, women’s health has rightly risen in the political and public agenda. This visibility matters; it creates momentum and signals that long overdue change is within reach. But alongside this attention has come a surge in noise, information, conflicting advice and fragmented services, leaving many women feeling more confused than empowered, particularly at pivotal life stages such as menopause.

I hear this consistently in my work. Women still feel underinformed and, at times, unsupported as they navigate complex symptoms and decisions without clear, trusted guidance. Confidence in how to manage health, whether through lifestyle changes, over-the-counter options, pharmacy support or clinical care, can be low.

This is the context in which we set out to act. At Bayer, with a long-standing commitment to women’s health across the life course, we recognised that this moment required more than another report. It called for a coordinated effort to convene trusted voices, cut through the noise and equip women with the confidence to navigate the system.

That ambition led to the development of ‘Menopause, unmissed’, a consensus statement that looks at how women should experience menopause support in the reformed NHS set out in the ten-year health plan. Timed to align with the renewal of the Women’s Health Strategy, our ambition was to move beyond awareness towards practical, system-level solutions.

What sets this statement apart is its holistic, self-care first approach. Too often, systems default to one-size-fits-all models that fail to reflect the diversity of women’s needs and experiences. Menopause is not a uniform journey — symptoms, severity and preferences vary widely.

Self-care sits at the heart of the statement, not as a fallback when clinical support is unavailable, but as a valid and empowering first choice. This means equipping women with the knowledge and tools to explore a spectrum of options, from lifestyle adjustments and over-the-counter treatments, to pharmacy advice and clinical pathways. It is about restoring agency and making the system easier to navigate.

Building consensus

Reaching our ambition required genuine collaboration. We began with a listening exercise, engaging people from across the system to understand the challenges from multiple perspectives. Those insights shaped both the content and tone of the statement, ultimately ensuring lived experience sits alongside professional expertise.

The statement distils complex challenges into eight clear recommendations, each directed at a named body and supported by specific actions. Common themes run throughout, including improving access to trusted information; enabling proactive self-care; expanding pharmacy and community based services; and addressing inequalities in access and outcomes.

We brought this work into a public forum through a parliamentary panel event in October 2025, held during World Menopause Awareness Month. Focused on holistic, inclusive care, the event allowed us to test our thinking in practice with experts and the community, and perfectly coincided with broader policy momentum, including the Women’s Health Strategy renewal and the introduction of menopause questions into the NHS Health Check.

The panel — comprising Thorrun Govind, registered pharmacist and healthcare consultant; broadcaster Cherry Healey; Laura Kelly, vice president of the PAGB, the consumer healthcare association; Dame Lesley Regan, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College London; Alice Smellie, co-founder of Menopause Mandate; and myself — explored what comprehensive menopause support looks like, grounded in both policy and lived experience.

The forum created space for wider endorsement, bringing together experts, policymakers, advocates and women with lived experience. It invited additional endorsement of the co-created statement, with final signatories drawn from across the system, including clinical experts, pharmacists, patient advocates and community organisations. This diversity strengthens credibility and increases the likelihood that policy commitments translate into real-world impact.

Beyond menopause: a systemic challenge

While menopause is the focus, the statement highlights broader system gaps. The issues exposed around education, access and equity are not confined to one life stage. They point to the need for a life-course approach to women’s health.

Self-care is central to this vision. By improving health literacy and encouraging earlier intervention, we can help women take control of their health while reducing pressure on primary care. Pharmacists have a crucial role to play. As accessible, trusted professionals, they are already a first point of contact for millions of women.

Progress, however, depends on tackling stigma and inequality in parallel. Cultural taboos and disparities in access cannot be an afterthought. They must be addressed as part of system design.

For me, ‘Menopause, unmissed’ is more than a set of recommendations. It is a shared commitment to improving women’s health outcomes and a demonstration of what cross-sector collaboration can achieve.

The path forward is clear. Policymakers must act on the recommendations, while industry, healthcare professionals and communities continue to work in partnership. Prioritising self-care, strengthening community services and ensuring equitable access are not competing ambitions. They are mutually reinforcing, and the roadmap to deliver them is here.