UK ‘leading the way’ in women’s health innovation, say experts

The UK is leading the way in women’s health innovation and policy change, experts have said, as the femtech market is projected to grow.

Speaking at the Women’s Health Innovation Summit Europe 2023 taking place in Basel this week, Valentina Sartori, partner at McKinsey & Company, said European countries have made “significant” steps in femtech and digital health.

“I think we’ve seen great progress in women’s health,” she said. “We’ve seen much more investment going into menopause and much more investment in femtech overall.

“We had around US$2.4b in funding last year in femtech and a lot of that went to companies here in Europe which is fantastic to see.  The UK is leading the way, with around 40 per cent of the investment going there.”

The panelists have also praised England’s Women’s Health Strategy, launched earlier last year with the aim to improve the way in which the health and care system listens to women’s voices and boost health outcomes for women and girls.

Sartori noted that policymakers are doing more, highlighting the UK’s latest policies for pregnant women as well as Spain’s decision to introduce paid menstrual leave.

Priya Oberoi, general partner at Goddess Gaia Ventures, said: “When it comes to government changes, lobbying is very important and the UK has done very well.

“We’ve had a number of roundtables at No 10 and we’ve been able to encourage real change.

“As a VC, our job is basically betting on the future and we are betting on the use of technology in healthcare, and how that will improve women’s lives.”

Although the UK government has decided against providing special protection for menopausal employees, it has stressed its commitment to improve access to care for essential services for menstrual problems, contraception, pelvic pain and menopause care.

A £25m investment was allocated in March to create new health hubs for women in England while further investment was dedicated to 17 new specialist pregnancy centres, as part of the NHS commitment to halve the maternal mortality rate by 2025.