Today, the Government launched the refreshed Women’s Health Strategy. We welcome the recognition – at last – that medical misogyny is a significant issue. Women’s voices have too often been overlooked, dismissed or minimised within healthcare.

For more than a decade, our campaign has been highlighting exactly this issue. Long before the term “medical misogyny” entered mainstream discussion, mesh-injured women were describing how their symptoms, concerns and experiences were frequently ignored or disbelieved. We are therefore pleased to see this issue acknowledged within a national strategy and recognised as a matter requiring action.

However, we are deeply disappointed that mesh-injured women and the ongoing challenges surrounding mesh care received no significant mention in the Government’s media announcements accompanying the strategy’s launch.

While there is a reference to the postcode lottery affecting mesh centres on page 61 of the strategy document, under Action 63, many in our community had expected greater recognition of the role that mesh survivors played in bringing these issues to public and political attention.

It was the landmark First Do No Harm report in 2020, led by the formidable Baroness Julia Cumberlege, that exposed the devastating consequences of healthcare systems failing to listen to patients. The report was driven by the testimony and determination of women harmed by pelvic mesh and other medical interventions, and it shone a spotlight on the very culture that is now increasingly described as medical misogyny.

The renewed focus on listening to women is welcome. Yet it is difficult not to feel that the contribution of mesh-injured women, campaigners and patient advocates has been overlooked in today’s announcements. The progress reflected in this strategy did not happen by accident. It was achieved because thousands of women spoke up, often at great personal cost, and refused to be silenced.

Recognition matters. Not for the sake of credit, but because acknowledging the experiences of mesh-injured women is essential to ensuring that the lessons of the past are not forgotten and that meaningful change continues.