It wasn’t that long ago that any mention of the vagina was considered taboo. Today, there have been plays extolling it, and national newspapers devote breathless pages to the subject, but there is still a squeamishness which surrounds female genitalia. It would be a great step forward if women themselves were better acquainted with female […]
Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer among women in the UK, but because diagnosis is often made when the disease is more advanced, 5-year survival rates are only 46 per cent overall. The good news that this soars to a 90 per cent 5 year survival rate when tumours are detected early. When […]
Early diagnosis is a major focus of the work of Target Ovarian Cancer and we take a three-pronged approach to try and ensure that more women are diagnosed at an early stage when the cancer is still very treatable. Over 7000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year in the UK. Although fewer than […]
WHEN it comes to fertility treatment – specifically IVF – there are fine margins between successful and unsuccessful outcomes – between creating life or failing to bring one into existence. So, against this emotionally-charged backdrop, is it not wise to always strive to tip the balance in your favour, even when the methods employed might […]
A new class of experimental drugs reduces hot flushes in menopausal women by almost three-quarters in just three days. The treatment, tested by scientists at Imperial College London, also reduces the severity of hot flushes by over a third within three days of taking it. The research, funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for […]
The statistics are stark. 11 women die every day from ovarian cancer. Incidence rates are rising, research funding has dropped by one third in five years, and most women diagnosed today will receive the same treatments as 20 years ago. It’s time for a change – and that is why Target Ovarian Cancer, the UK’s […]
I was recently at our first ever comedy night, Gynaecomedy and let me tell you, there is nothing more empowering that seeing 300 women and men chanting the word ‘vagina’. Sadly, away from this brilliant night, gynaecological health is still often a no-go conversation zone for many. It concerns me that a stigma is still […]
Obstetric fistulas are injuries that most often occur during childbirth, when a baby gets stuck in the birth canal, causing a hole to develop between the mother’s vagina, and her bladder or rectum. Faeces or urine leak from the fistula constantly, meaning many women with these injuries are shunned by their families and communities. The […]
Women need considerable practical and emotional support in the early days of breastfeeding to make it successful. Those who do not want to breastfeed must be listened to, respected and understood, rather than simply told ‘breast is best. The UK remains at the bottom of the “league tables” in terms of the numbers of new […]
As an academic, I am interested in the political and health nexus of conflict, and three years ago, I was working on an academic study concerning sexual and reproductive health amongst forcibly displaced communities in Greece. As I explored the high rates of survival sex amongst young migrants, it became abundantly clear that the entire […]
Read More… from The Unmentionables: Intimate health products in conflict zones