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Could femtech tackle period poverty? Here’s what campaigners think

Women’s health campaigners have their say on period poverty after study unveils lack of access to menstrual products

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Period poverty, defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities and education, affects more than 500 million women and girls globally every month.

While it impacts many on low income, researchers from the University of Southampton have looked at an often-forgotten group: homeless women.

The research, published last month, showed that homeless women experience practical challenges in managing menstruation, alongside feelings of embarrassment and shame, with many “making do” due to inadequate provision.

The review, the first to explore homeless women’s experiences of menstruation, concluded that it’s time to address the provision of menstrual health resources as a basic human right.

Femtech World sat down with charities and women’s health organisations to find out how policymakers and femtech organisations could tackle the issue.

Jennifer Gaines, manager of national engagement at Alliance for Period Supplies

Homeless individuals face unique challenges when it comes to managing their periods, including limited access to period supplies, adequate restroom facilities and stigma associated with managing menstruation.

The femtech industry has a significant role to play in addressing the menstrual needs of the most vulnerable populations, including homeless individuals, and developing unique solutions to the challenges faced, such as lack of access to clean facilities and products.

The industry could address the issue by educating the general public and policymakers, establishing donation initiatives to local organisations that distribute period products to homeless populations and investing in research initiatives to better understand the specific challenges faced by homeless individuals regarding menstruation and the lack of access to period products.

Organisations can also advocate for policy reform on local, state and national levels to address period poverty and homelessness.

In the United States, there are more than 70 million individuals, girls and people who menstruate between the ages of 12 to 44. Of these more than 70 million, one in six lives below the federal poverty line. That means there are millions of people who menstruate in our country who live in poverty and are unable to afford the material basic necessities they need to thrive.

People who live in poverty often face food insecurity, housing insecurity, transportation issues and other struggles every day. Period poverty is yet another obstacle that prevents people who menstruate from reaching their full potential.

Petchara Newson, business development coordinator at the period poverty charity Freedom4Girls

We wholeheartedly agree with the findings of the University of Southampton, which shed light on the urgent issue of period poverty among homeless women. This research reaffirms the observations we’ve made at Freedom4Girls, especially as the period poverty crisis escalates amidst the current recession.

To support homeless women effectively, it’s imperative to ensure they have access to safe and clean spaces where they can use menstrual products. Menstrual hygiene should be prioritised not only in spaces traditionally targeted towards women, like women’s refuges, but also in places where women experiencing poverty exist, such as homeless organisations or food banks.

Increasing representation of menstruators on the boards of diverse organisations and providing training to non-menstruators can help identify gaps in support for menstrual hygiene.

Organisations serving those in poverty should ensure they have clean and safe restrooms equipped with a range of free period products and proper waste disposal facilities.

Furthermore, when supporting homeless menstruators, it’s essential to provide a variety of free period products, including heavier flow options, as many experience heavy periods.

Manjit Gill, founder and CEO of the period charity Binti

In the femtech space, we have some amazing products to manage menstrual health but how much funding is provided for “women’s health?”

Menstrual matters have to include all facets of health which include options of products best suited to the needs of women be it disposable or reusable pads or tampons cups or pants.

The cost of living crisis means people can’t afford food but how many address the unaffordable cost of period products for women?

Period products mandated as essential products in everyday life and menstruation becoming a word that is not shrouded in shame is the only way we can create a world where all women have menstrual dignity.

Terri Harris, education and communication manager at Bloody Good Period

Nearly one and a half million people in the UK can’t currently afford period products, and for those who are unhoused or in unstable accommodation, the additional barriers to accessing and using period products are far worse.

Periods aren’t a luxury, they’re a necessity. Everyone should be able to access period products whenever they need them, for free.

At Bloody Good Period, we’re campaigning for period products to be freely available and accompanied by education, normalisation, and practical support. Without this, we cannot hope to achieve menstrual equity.

Laura Rathbone, founder of Sisters on the Streets

We witness first-hand how the lack of access to menstrual supplies among individuals experiencing homelessness perpetuates a cycle of disadvantage. Without adequate period products, people are not only forced to endure physical discomfort and health risks but also face significant barriers in accessing opportunities crucial for escaping homelessness.

Imagine someone missing out on housing, employment, or education opportunities simply because they bled through their only pair of pants just before a crucial job interview or apartment viewing, rendering them unable to attend.

Addressing menstrual equity is not just about hygiene; it’s about dignity, access to basic rights, and creating pathways to stability and independence for those most vulnerable in our society.

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Condé Nast to close women’s health magazine after 47 years

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Condé Nast will close its women’s health publication Self after 47 years, with unprofitable editions of Glamour and Wired also set to shut.

In a memo published on the magazine giant’s website on Thursday, the media company’s chief executive, Roger Lynch, said: “As audience behaviours shift, we have not seen a path for Self to continue in its current form as a digital publication.”

“Going forward, health and wellness content will be integrated into our other brands, including Allure and Glamour,” Lynch said, referring to Condé Nast’s other beauty and wellness titles.

Self, which moved to an online-only format in 2017, still reaches more than 20m people each month.

The publication has also earned significant recognition over the years, including a National Magazine award and a Webby’s People’s Voice award.

The closure is part of a wider set of operational changes across the company. Lynch also announced the end of Wired’s Italy edition, noting that while the brand “remains a strong global brand, the Italian edition has not kept pace with growth in our other markets”.

Condé Nast will also wind down Glamour’s publishing operations in Germany, Spain and Mexico.

Lynch said: “Taken together, Wired in Italy, Self and the affected Glamour markets represent a little over 1 per cent of our overall revenue.

“They also remain unprofitable, and continuing to operate them in their current form limits our ability to invest in the ideas and areas that will drive future growth.”

Beyond editorial changes, the company is also restructuring internally to adapt to technological shifts.

Lynch said Condé Nast would make “changes within our technology organisation, reflecting the rapid advancement of AI and its impact on our ability to innovate and build products faster”, adding: “Teams will be restructured to be more agile and to work more closely with our brands and customers, reducing barriers to execution.”

The latest moves follow a series of transformations at Condé Nast in recent years.

Glamour ended its print edition in 2018, followed by Allure moving to a digital-only format in 2022.

In 2024, music publication Pitchfork was folded into GQ, the company’s men’s style magazine.

More recently, last November, Vogue, one of Condé Nast’s key revenue drivers, announced it would absorb Teen Vogue to create a more “unified reader experience across titles”.

The media industry has been shrinking steadily over the years.

From 2010 to 2017, the industry lost an average of 7,305 jobs annually, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas published in December 2025.

Since 2018, the average number of job cuts in the industry has risen to 14,298 a year.

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GSK ovarian and womb cancer drug shows promise in early trial

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GSK said its ovarian cancer drug shrank or cleared tumours in more than 60 per cent of patients in an early trial as CCO Luke Miels pushes faster development.

The company said that in an early-stage trial, Mocertatug Rezetecan, known as Mo-Rez, shrank or eliminated tumours in 62 per cent of patients with ovarian cancer after chemotherapy had failed, and in 67 per cent of those with endometrial cancer.

Hesham Abdullah, GSK’s global head of cancer research and development, said: “Treatment of gynaecological cancers remains a major challenge, with a pressing need for new therapies that offer improved response rates.

“With Mo-Rez we now have compelling evidence of a promising clinical profile.”

GSK acquired the Mo-Rez treatment, an antibody-drug conjugate, from China’s Hansoh Pharma in late 2023 and has trialled it in 224 patients around the world, including the UK, over the past year.

Only a few patients needed to stop treatment because of side effects, the most common being nausea.

It is given every three weeks by intravenous infusion, meaning directly into a vein.

Combined with data from a separate intermediate trial in China, the results have given the British drugmaker the confidence to go straight to late-stage trials, with five clinical studies planned globally in the next few months, including on patients in the UK.

Speaking to journalists before the conference, Abdullah described Mo-Rez as a “key asset” in the company’s growing cancer portfolio.

It is expected to be a blockbuster drug, with peak annual sales of more than £2bn, which GSK hopes will help it achieve its 2031 sales target of £40bn.

A few years ago GSK did not have any cancer drugs on the market, but it now has four approved medicines and 13 in clinical development.

Last year, oncology generated nearly £2bn in sales, up 43 per cent from 2024, with sales of its endometrial cancer drug Jemperli rising 89 per cent.

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Self-employment linked to better cardiovascular health outcomes in Hispanic women

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Self-employment is linked to lower rates of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, poor health and binge drinking in Hispanic women, research suggests.

The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Ethnicity & Disease, suggest work structure may be related to cardiovascular disease risk among this group.

Dr Kimberly Narain is assistant professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, senior author of the study, and director of health services and health optimisation research for the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center.

She said: “Hispanic women experience a disproportionate burden of heart disease compared to non-Hispanic women. This is the first study to link the structure of work with risks for heart disease among this group of women.”

The researchers examined 2003 to 2022 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to assess the association between self-employment, cardiovascular disease risk factors and health outcomes for Hispanic women.

The data included 165,600 Hispanic working women. Of those, about 21,000, or 13 per cent, were self-employed rather than working for wages or a salary.

Overall, the researchers found that self-employed women were less likely to report cardiovascular-disease-associated health problems.

They were also about 11 per cent more likely to report exercising compared with their non-self-employed counterparts.

Specifically, they found that self-employed Hispanic women had a 1.7 percentage point lower chance of reporting diabetes, roughly a 23 per cent decline.

They also had a 3.3 percentage point lower chance of reporting hypertension, roughly a 17 per cent decline.

The study also found a 5.9 percentage point lower chance of reporting obesity, roughly a 15 per cent decline.

It found a 2.0 percentage point lower chance of reporting binge drinking, roughly a 2 per cent decline.

It also found a 2.5 percentage point lower chance of reporting poor or fair overall health, roughly a 13 per cent decline.

The relationship between heart disease risks and the structure of work among Hispanic women was not driven by access to healthcare or differences in income, Narain said.

In fact, the decrease in high blood pressure linked to self-employment was nearly as large as the decrease in high blood pressure linked to being in the highest income group.

The study has some limitations.

The researchers relied on self-reported outcomes, which might be less reliable among ethnic and racial minorities and those from a lower socioeconomic background.

In addition, the researchers’ definition of poor mental health does not entirely match the accepted definition in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

They also did not have data allowing them to examine the specific types of occupations held by the women.

The study design also cannot prove any causal relationship between self-employment and cardiovascular disease risk, which is a subject the researchers will explore.

“The next step in the research is to conduct studies that are able to better assess if the structure of work is a cause of higher heart disease risks among Hispanic women.”

Narain said this.

Study co-authors are Lisette Collins, who led the research, and Dr Frederick Ferguson of UCLA.

Grants from the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center-Leichtman-Levine-TEM program and the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program supported the research.

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