To ask the Minister for Health if her Department has undertaken, commissioned, or funded any research into reproductive health outcomes for racialised migrant and ethnic minority women in Ireland (details supplied); if so, to provide details with specific reference to maternal health, menopause, gynaecological disorders, and reproductive cancers; if not, if her Department has considered commissioning such studies; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Significant progress and investment have been made in Women’s Health in recent years. Underscoring the Government’s commitment to Women’s Health has been the investment of dedicated additional funding of over €180 million since 2020.
This is aligned to the Government’s continued strong commitment in the Programme for Government to” further developing the transformation in women’s health care”.
The Women’s Health Action Plans have a specific action to grow the evidence base for women’s health approaches in Ireland by supporting research in this area. Addressing research gaps in women’s health has been a priority for the Women’s Health Programme in recent years with a number of research projects supported to better inform us.
The Women’s Health Fund, established in Budget 2021, along with supporting a range research initiatives that focus on areas including Family Carers, Mental Health, Cardiovascular, Breastfeeding, Menopause and migrant women and ethnic minority groups experiences of maternity services, has approved funding for a research project entitled - Decision-making, consent and women’s autonomy in reproductive healthcare.
Decision-making, consent and women’s autonomy in reproductive healthcare is a participatory study with migrant and ethnic minority women who have engaged with health care services in relation to their reproductive health at any stage of their lives, e.g. in relation to fertility, contraception, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, miscarriage, abortion, reproductive cancers, and menopause.
The Women’s Health Action Plans provides a strategic framework to prioritise women’s healthcare into the future, identifying and responding to gaps in women’s health services while also working to improve women’s experiences of healthcare, including support for vulnerable groups and initiating opportunities for further research and innovation
