A University of Sheffield initiative is tackling overlooked women’s health problems by helping students develop solutions to delays and inequalities in care.

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration bringing together students, clinicians and industry leaders, new ideas have been developed to address health challenges that leave millions of women facing years-long delays in diagnosis and care.

The Women’s Health Innovation Challenge saw 50 students from across disciplines and year groups work in teams on issues including fragmented care across the female health lifecycle and the widespread normalisation of serious symptoms.

Among the key challenges explored was endometriosis, a condition affecting one in 10 women globally, where patients in the UK face an average diagnosis time of more than nine years.

Other innovations addressed gaps in menopause care, cardiovascular health in women and the fragmentation of digital health solutions across different life stages.

The initiative reflects the university’s growing work in women’s health innovation, a field widely recognised as underfunded and underserved despite affecting half the global population, and its commitment to turning research and ideas into meaningful impact.

Rachel Kovacs, a final year biomedical engineering student at the University of Sheffield and organiser of the event, said: “I was lucky enough to be one of the students to take the first Women’s Health in Biomedical Engineering module in the UK, right here in Sheffield, and it really opened my eyes to how under-innovated the field is.

“I only discovered this in my final year and I wanted other students to find it sooner.

“The event itself has already made a huge difference. Students now see women’s health as a space worth innovating in.

“If even a handful take their ideas further, we could genuinely change women’s lives.

“Having personally experienced some of these gaps, I know the impact this could have on women across the globe.”

The event was supported by experts from across research, industry and healthcare, including panel members from Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, an NHS England organisation which acts as a bridge between healthcare providers, commissioners, academia and industry.

Participants explored a range of possible solutions to some of the sector’s most complex challenges.

The event culminated in students pitching their ideas to a panel including clinicians, academic researchers and founders of women’s health startups, creating a direct link between emerging innovation and real-world application.

The challenge forms part of the university’s wider activity in this space, including its Women’s HealthTech Innovation Network, which brings together regional and national expertise to translate research into solutions that address longstanding inequalities in care.

Dr Vanessa Hearnden, senior lecturer in biomaterials and tissue engineering at the University of Sheffield and co-chair of the Women’s HealthTech Innovation Network, said: “The Women’s Health Innovation Challenge gave students a rare opportunity to work directly with clinicians, researchers and industry partners to tackle real-world problems.

“The quality of ideas and level of engagement demonstrated the impact this kind of interdisciplinary, challenge-led learning can have.”

France will reimburse reusable period products for women under 26 and those on low incomes, in a move aimed at tackling period poverty.

The measure is expected to help 6.7m people, almost a tenth of France’s population of 69m, from the start of the next academic year in the autumn.

Women under 26 with a state health insurance card, as well as women of all ages who receive special healthcare support because of limited income, will be able to claim reimbursement after buying the products from a pharmacy. The cost will be covered through the country’s social security system.

Parliament approved the measure as part of the country’s social security budget for 2024. However, no decree was issued to bring it into force, prompting anger among feminist groups and companies making the sustainable sanitary items.

A survey of 4,000 women in France in November found that one in ten had used alternatives to mainstream period products, such as ripped-up clothes, because of tight budgets, according to French charity Dons Solidaires.

France cut sales tax on period products from 20 per cent to 5.5 per cent in 2016. In 2020, Scotland became the first country in the world to sign into law free universal access to period products in public buildings.