‘Astonishing’ lack of menopause education for Australian medical students needs to be addressed, says Mark Butler

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says he is “appalled” that medical students are only required to spend one hour learning about the menopause and has indicated the government is likely to take action following a damning parliamentary inquiry.

Butler told ABC Insiders on Sunday that multiple investigations had revealed a “disgraceful story” about the treatment of women in Australia’s health system. He said more needed to be done after Labor’s “modest investment” in women’s health.

On Wednesday, a Senate inquiry recommended that medical professionals be better informed about menopause during their training and that women going through menopause be given more flexibility in the workplace.

The study found that women were dismissed by health professionals or offered ineffective treatments when seeking menopause care. One was told by her family doctor that all he had learned in medical school was that women in menopause were either “crazy or sad.”

“I found some of the findings of the study to be downright shocking,” Butler said.

Asked whether menopausal women should have the right to flexible working, Butler said the work of parliamentary inquiries was “a really important basis for us to do more and better for women”.

“I’m amazed that medical students spend maybe one hour in a long residency on perimenopause or menopause. Half of their patients will have this. These are complex conditions.”

Butler said previous reports “tell a pretty shameful story about women not being taken seriously in the healthcare system about their symptoms,” and cited evidence that it can take seven to nine years to be diagnosed with endometriosis.

“I have to say that in the last budget we made a modest investment to increase the capacity of our GPs (in relation to) women in perimenopause and menopause.

“We are in the process of revising the Medicare provisions for IUDs and extended-acting contraception, but much more needs to be done in this area.

“I am working with the Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher – Ged Kearney is leading the work with the women’s health sector to investigate these reports and see what we can do, frankly, to better support women.”

Butler made the comments as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the Quad meeting in Delaware and signed up Australia to a Quad cancer initiative.

The program will include a boost in screening and will roll out more HPV vaccination programs to prevent cervical cancer in the Pacific in countries including Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Vanuatu and Fiji. Australia will contribute $29.6 million to the initiative, including $13.1 million from mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation.

In the same interview, Butler said he wanted to see “prosecutions” of stores that violate the vape ban, in a shift to a “more assertive approach.”

The minister made this comment in response to media reports that vapes are now more expensive but are still available from some retailers who are not legally allowed to sell them.

After the ban came into effect on July 1, Butler said the government “took the approach for the first few months of getting businesses to hand in their vapes and many did”.

“We have carried out inspections with state authorities at hundreds of sites to inform them of the new laws and warn them of the longer-term consequences, but we need to move to a much more assertive approach.”

Butler noted that the “very serious penalties” for selling vapes include seven years in prison and a $2.2 million fine for individuals.

“I want the authorities to start preparing for prosecutions, because this is too important for the health of young people.”