Plan includes new perinatal mental health unit, expanded coverage for menopause treatment, and women’s health strategy

VANCOUVER –A BC NDP government will open a first-in-Canada perinatal mental health unit, expand coverage for menopause care, and launch a province-wide women’s health strategy, David Eby announced today.

"Too many women face barriers and delays when trying to access care they need and deserve. We have made meaningful progress in expanding maternal, reproductive, and menopausal care across B.C. – but we know there’s a lot more to do,” said David Eby, BC NDP leader. “We’re determined to ensure every woman gets timely, proper care and support at every stage of her life. We can’t afford to walk away from what’s working and hand our health care system to those who would make deep cuts and support importing an America-style, for-profit model here. Especially not right now.”

A BC NDP government would fund a first-of-its-kind perinatal mental health unit at B.C. Women’s Hospital where mothers experiencing mental health challenges can heal with their new babies. Eby’s plan includes providing BC Pharmacare coverage for menopause care for people with breast cancer who cannot use Menopause Hormone Therapy and expanding pharmacist prescribing for local vaginal estrogen to treat UTIs. The plan will also develop a province-wide women’s health strategy focused on expanding menopause care, reducing diagnostic delays, and improving reproductive and maternal mental health care.

Since 2017, the BC NDP has:

• opened Western Canada's first Complex Menopause Clinic
• made birth control and Menopausal Hormone Therapy freefunded one standard IVF cycle and medications
• introduced at-home cervical cancer screening kits
• expanded HPV vaccinations
• enabled pharmacists to prescribe contraception and UTI treatments

How David Eby and the BC NDP will expand women’s health care in B.C.:

• First-in-Canada perinatal mental health unit at B.C. Women’s Hospital to ensure mothers in a mental health crisis can heal with their babies by their side instead of being separated or going without inpatient care.
• Better access to menopause care: Giving breast cancer survivors and women with medical conditions affordable PharmaCare coverage for alternative treatments (such as NK3 receptor antagonists), while making it faster and easier for postmenopausal women to get local vaginal estrogen through pharmacists for recurrent UTIs and physical discomfort.
• A province-wide women's health strategy: Engaging B.C. women’s health experts to expand access to menopause care, reduce diagnostic and treatment delays, strengthen community reproductive, sexual and menstrual health services, and improve maternal and perinatal mental health care across B.C.

QUOTES:

“All women in B.C. in midlife and beyond deserve the highest quality medical care informed by evidence. I look forward to working with the government to achieve that goal.” - Dr. Jennifer Gunter.

“In Her Circle was founded in memory of Jenna Dorman, a Vancouver mother of two who died while experiencing a severe postpartum mental illness. This is exactly the care she needed. No mother should have to choose between getting well and being with her baby, and with today’s commitment, other BC families won’t have to face what hers did. This will be the first unit of its kind in Canada, and it will change outcomes for families across the province.” - Kiri Bird, co-founder and Executive Director, In Her Circle.

“We welcome the BC NDP’s announcement of a provincial women’s health strategy, greater access to menopause care and support for the Perinatal Mental Health Unit at BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre. At BC Women’s Health Foundation, our generous donors have been instrumental in advancing innovative care for women and newborns, but philanthropy cannot do it alone. Women’s health is not just a women’s issue; it impacts families, communities and future generations. I’m grateful that David Eby and the BC NDP recognize this, and I look forward to working with them to put this plan into action.” - Cally Wesson, President and CEO of BC Women’s Health Foundation.