On Tuesday 25th April the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s Health hosted the first roundtable in its inequalities series closing the gap. The roundtable spotlighted cardiovascular disease and inequalities in treatment access for women with aortic stenosis.
Recently published new data has highlighted that women are less likely to receive life saving treatment for Aortic Stenosis (AS) than men. AS is a cardiovascular condition, and there are both open surgical and minimally invasive treatment options available. This APPG has spoken to experts and those affected to find out what the barriers are that women are facing when accessing treatment, and what can be done to ensure women get equal access to men. With the support of these experts, the APPG has put together a Call to Action which can be viewed here.
The APPG’s event brought together key stakeholders in the cardiovascular and women’s health space to discuss the solutions highlighted in the Call to Action and the steps that can be taken forward to improve treatment access for women with AS.
Representatives from the following groups were invited to the roundtable to discuss these solutions and the ways in which treatment access can be improved:
British Heart Foundation
Heart Valve Voice
British Cardiovascular Society
NHS England Inequalities Team
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal College of Nurses
Patients with lived experience
Clinicians
Parliamentarians