Although half the population will at some point experience menopause and many women's daily lives are affected by it, there is a lack of awareness and it remains a social taboo. Belgium is now looking to help women specifically in the transition phase.
The transition to menopause is like reverse puberty, as it is the passage between the fertile period and menopause, lasting for an average of five years for women between the ages of 40 and 50. The consequent changes in hormone levels can cause symptoms such as fatigue, hair loss, difficulty concentrating or brain fog (memory problems and feelings of absence).
Three out of four women experience these symptoms, but this phase remains a huge taboo and is poorly understood – not only by women going through menopause but also by front-line healthcare providers. This lack of understanding has resulted in women rarely receiving the right diagnosis: many who consult their GP for menopausal problems are, for example, prescribed antidepressants.
Meanwhile, one in five jobs in Belgium are held by women in the transition phase. More than half of these women experience difficulties at work because of the problems related to this, with many even considering giving up their jobs. Flemish Minister for Equal Opportunities Gwendolyn Rutten and the Federal Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Frank Vandenbroucke are working to break the taboo and, in turn, improve the care women receive.
"This is an extraordinary paradox," said Vandenbroucke. "The most widespread problems, such as the difficulties encountered by many women around menopause, remain invisible for the longest time. We need to tackle this."
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Working with experts and stakeholders from a range of disciplines, they are mapping out ways of making the transition phase more debatable and increasing knowledge about it. This will be used to devise a new policy that will ensure unified care for women of this age, linking individual symptoms and research into the impact on women at work.
"It should be possible to discuss the menopause and the transition to it, not only with GPs and gynaecologists but also at work and in education." The Ministers hope to put the issue on the agenda at all government levels.
