Women's Health Week survey reveal women not prioritsing health

While the week, which ran from September 5 to September 11 looked at a different topic everyday, community partner Family Planning Tasmania's Dr Catherine Moult said it was a good time for women to address their health.

Dr Moult said Women's Health Week was a good time to remind women to set aside time to think about their health.

"Preventative health care is important for your overall health and well-being, helping keep you healthier and identifying problems earlier," she said.

"Cancer screenings such as cervical cancer screening and mammograms are two preventative health measures that are particularly important for women to have. And having a cervical screening test has never been easier with the option of taking a simple self-collected swab being introduced in July 2022. Self-collection is available at all three Family Planning Tasmania clinics in Glenorchy, Launceston and Burnie."

One of the topics for Women's Health Week included encouraging women to get their check ups done.

One of her key concerns was access to medical professionals.

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"The ability to access primary health care is a huge concern for women in Tasmania," Dr Moult said.

"There is a GP shortage across Tasmania, especially in rural and regional areas. This means that women are often waiting weeks just to get a GP appointment."

In a survey released by Jean Hailes on September 6 for Women's Health Week is found 44 per cent of women say they cannot afford to go to the doctors.

"Cost is also a factor with health care often being put last with other expenses being prioritised with the current cost of living crisis," said Dr Moult.

"It can be easy to take our health for granted when so much is happening in our lives. However health really is the most important thing. If we're not healthy, everything in our lives suffers. It's important to remind everyone, but women especially, of the potential impact delaying health checks and not prioritising your health can have."

Dr Moult wanted to remind women there is a cost of putting off screening and health which "may be your health."

"Putting off health checks and regular screening might save a few dollars in the short term but may result in much more significant costs in the long term," she said.

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"Early diagnosis and monitoring can significantly improve the outcome of health issues such as cancers."

Jean Hailes chief officer Dr Janet Michelmore said the survey showed the past two years have impacted women's overall mental and physical health.

"Screening is set up to pick up problems before they become big problems," she said. "And we're very lucky in this country to have quite a lot of screening available to us from younger right through to older women."

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