Good news, but it comes with a twist. In this article, originally published in the RACGP’s newsGP, I talk about the gender equity implications of this decision and how this still discriminates against women.
As a GP and women’s health advocate I was interviewed by RACGP’s newsGP, and stated that continuous and sustainable access to the treatments is ‘a good thing and very welcome’.
However, this comes with a price increase which will be prohibitive for low-income women who do not receive healthcare card benefits, and given the gender pay gap which has increased by 14% this last financial year, adds another blow to women who rely on this to function and feel well. It is unfortunate that in the overall scheme of things, 10% of menopausal women require MHRT, and the overall cost to the PBS if there were no price increase, would be relatively low.
It has been a very trying time for women trying to source substitute MHRT [menopausal hormone replacement therapy] during COVID-19 and into this year, due to supply shortages.
The switch to other products has not always suited women and the options have in some situations caused more overall expense to women, as they have had to stop and try something different over several visits, to get close to the preferred outcomes, depending on what has been available.
You might recall earlier this year I was interviewed during our advocacy effort to provide adequate supplies of commonly used MHRT and retain to the PBS listing of MHRT ( see RACGP – ‘Serious implications’ if menopause treatments removed from PBS https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/serious-implications-if-menopause-treatments-remov )
Lobbying by AFMW, Australasian Menopause Society(AMS), Endocrine Society and RANZCOG, resulted in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Department of Health reaching an agreement with pharmaceutical company Sandoz to retain menopause treatments on the PBS with an updated price to ‘support a continuous and sustainable supply of the products’.
You can read the full article here: www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/menopause-hormonal-treatments-to-retain-pbs-listin
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
