Media release

From: University of Auckland

Key points:

• 18 months after the transition to a new health system there are still widespread inequities in access to basic services for women which depend on their location, and other demographics.
• These basic services which should be widely available in the community include contraception, abortion, menopause care and management of abnormal uterine bleeding (eg. heavy periods).
• Eligibility criteria for access to funded women's health services in many areas are stigmatising  and should be addressed as a matter of urgency.
• These eligibility criteria include ethnicity, drug and alcohol use, a history of specific mental health issues or abortion, and family size.
• There is currently little evidence of co-design with Māori partners and consideration to a strengths-based approach to women's health taking Te Tiriti obligations into account should be considered.
• Also very little evidence of any evalutaion of current programmes, making it difficult to ascertain which are working well and could be scaled up.
• Difficulty in accessing training and funding are major barriers to primary care doctors and nurses taking on more women's health services in the community.

What recommendations would you make based on this research?

• Improved governance of existing women's health programmes in primary care.
• Nationally agreed set of fully funded core services for women's health.
• Nationally agreed patient focused key performance indicators for these services.
• Improved access to training in women's health for primary care clinicians (Gps and nurses).
• Improved funding to deliver these services.
• Services to align with the WHO Human Rights in Reproductive and Sexual Health framework.
• Establishment of a women's health taskforce to oversee implementation of the women's health strategy.

To wrap up, what is your take-home message from this research?

• Visible, effective strategic leadership in the area of women's health in Aotearoa New Zealand is required in order to implement the Women's Health Strategy.
• Currently it will be difficult to implement many aspects of the women's health strategy as there is a widespread lack of availability of trained clinicians in the community to deliver improved services, and few opportunities for funding these services.
• A culture change towards a strengths based approach to women's health will be required to reduce shame and stigma,  improve access and meet Te Tiriti obligations.