UK government to appoint hormone replacement therapy tsar

HRT supply chairperson will be responsible for securing medication that helps combat the most debilitating menopause symptoms

Hot flashes are a common side effect of menopause. Photo: Getty

The UK health secretary has announced he intends to appoint a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) tsar amid a shortage of medication which has left women desperate.

The news comes as many women are reportedly sharing their prescriptions, with some said to be made suicidal by the debilitating menopause symptoms they suffer without the medication.

Recent figures suggest the number of HRT prescriptions in the UK has more than doubled in the last five years but stocks are running low, with one manufacturer of a commonly-used hormone replacement gel reporting supply problems.

Sajid Javid told The Mail on Sunday he was “determined” to make sure supplies were meeting the high demand and would use lessons learnt in the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out.

“I will be urgently convening a meeting with suppliers to look at ways we can work together to improve supply in the short and long term,” he said.

“It’s also clear to me that we need to apply some of the lessons from the vaccine task force to this challenge, so we will soon be recruiting for an HRT supply chairperson.”

“I welcome the Secretary of State’s intervention on this. There are a lot of women relaying on him to improve the current situation. We should never have been in this position,” said Labour MP Carolyn Harris, co-chair of the UK menopause taskforce.

While the government in October committed to lowering the cost of HRT with women being allowed to save £205 ($263) each year by avoiding paying for repeat prescriptions, Ms Harris said the change will not come in until April 2023, prompting her to say “women deserve better”.

She also told the BBC that “women take their own lives out of the anger and the frustration and the insecurity and anxiety” they suffer from being without the medication.

Health experts have long warned of the dangers of using the internet to find medical advice instead of seeing a GP - a trend referred to as "Doctor Google".

Researchers researchers from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital suggest searching the web for a diagnosis.may be less harmful than medical professionals believe. Photo: Scott Eisen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Participants in the study of 5,000 people demonstrated modest improvements in reaching an accurate diagnosis after looking up symptoms online.

For the next phase, David Levine, managing director of general internal medicine and primary care at the Brigham, intends to investigate further the ability of AI to help people diagnose their own condition correctly. (Photo by: BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Hormone therapy helps to combat menopausal symptoms, which include anxiety, joint pain, disturbed sleep and hot flushes.

Jo McEwan, from menopause training company PositivePause, which provides support to women and organisations, welcomed the announcement.

“What’s happened is the supply can’t keep up with the demand now, clearly," she said.

“But this isn’t the first time it’s happened so I think, yes, let’s make somebody accountable or get someone whose got that authority to say ‘right, let’s get the big picture on this, let’s talk to the stakeholders, let’s talk to the pharma companies, and let’s ensure that women are not, as you say, trading HRT in car parks and buying it from abroad’.”

The shortages come after months of campaigning for greater awareness and increased support for those going through the menopause.

Among the supporters were TV presenter and model Penny Lancaster, who is married to Sir Rod Stewart, as well as Davina McCall, who both joined MPs outside parliament to protest against prescription charges for HRT in October 2021.