The SOGC wants every front-line practitioner trained to treat menopause, not just specialists
Nearly half of the women in a 2024 British Columbia study turned to extended health providers to manage menopause symptoms, services that Canada's public system largely will not cover.
That finding, cited by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), points to a widening gap that is pushing women toward private care at significant personal cost.
The 2024 BC study found that 43.5 percent had used at least one extended health care provider for menopause symptoms, almost none of which Medicare covers, according to the society.
The SOGC said a growing number of women across the country are being turned away when they seek treatment for menopause and other routine women's health conditions, often with no explanation or help.
That void, the society said, has fuelled a rise in private, for-profit clinics and virtual platforms, leaving many women to pay out of pocket for care the public system does not deliver.
At the SOGC annual clinical and scientific conference in Ottawa last week, OB/GYN and women's health expert Jen Gunter called the situation a "disgrace" and warned that Canada is building a two-tiered system in which women pay for basic care.
"What's next?" Gunter asked the audience of clinicians, warning that charging women for mammograms or pregnancies could follow.
Pushing one aspect of women's care outside the system would force out others, she said: "It's the thin edge of the wedge."
To close the gap, the society is calling for all front-line providers to be trained to deliver menopause care, including family physicians, general practitioners, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and emergency care providers.
Adding them to the existing roster of OB/GYNs and specialists would help address the access shortfall.
The society also urged governments to uphold the Canada Health Act, stop requiring women to pay for basic needs and fund the training front-line providers need to treat menopause symptoms.
Half of Canadians are women and all of them will reach menopause, yet the system ignores them, said Nicholas Leyland, president of the SOGC.
He said no woman should pay for basic health services and urged Canada to make menopause care more accessible at the front line.
