Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Deferred
Guidance fails to recognise importance of boys and men understanding reproductive health conditions
Conclusion
The guidance fails to recognise the importance of boys and men understanding reproductive health conditions that their peers might experience and their role in changing the culture and stigma that girls face. (Paragraph 26) 72 Publicly available information
Government Response Summary
The government's response focuses on the NHS's digital and social media initiatives to provide information to women and girls on reproductive health, and a competition for women's health innovations, rather than addressing the recommendation about teaching boys and men about female reproductive health conditions.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The NHS recognises the growing reliance of women and girls on online spaces and ‘ femtech ’ apps for information about reproductive health. In addition to the women’s health area on the NHS website, several other initiatives are underway to strengthen the NHS’s digital and social media presence, ensuring consistent and accessible support for those in need. In 2024, 2 new video series were published on the NHS YouTube channel, one on endometriosis and another on heavy menstrual bleeding . These series provide women and girls with more evidence-based information and include short videos featuring NHS doctors. In recent months, the NHS has also used its NHS Instagram channel to provide users with information on a range of reproductive health issues, including heavy periods, contraception, menopause and cervical cancer. This year, NHS England will create additional social media content focused on reproductive health conditions as part of an ‘always on’ strategy, ensuring the information is continuously available and easily discoverable when needed. Awareness days, weeks and months will be leveraged to amplify trusted, authoritative NHS content during important moments, fostering engagement with heightened conversations online. Wider media monitoring will continue to identify timely opportunities to publish content that is aligned with current coverage of relevant topics. Under the overarching theme of ‘women’s health’, NHS England recently launched a competition to identify innovations that improve women’s health . Three high-priority sub-challenges are being addressed through this competition: gynaecological conditions and hormonal health mental health chronic conditions and long-term health The successful projects include: digital mental health support for ethnic minority women that provides access to community-based interventions for support ‘ medtech ’ devices that aim to reduce complications in pregnancy and childbirth diagnostic technologies that will enable access to care and better self-management of long-term and hormonal conditions