National Health Service Drops The Word ‘Women’ From Its Online Health Advice

In a bid to be ‘inclusive’, Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has stopped using the word ‘women’, when referring to ‘womens’ cancers, on its internet guidance

Despite being warned that the move could be ‘harmful’ to patients, cervical, womb and ovarian online health advice no longer mentions women.

Cervical cancer is now being described as ‘a cancer that’s found anywhere in the cervix’ while womb cancer affects ‘the womb’. 

Patients will now have to click further into the website o see the word ‘women’ being used to talk about womens illness.

The Mail Online reports: England’s NHS website – which is often the first port of call for people checking symptoms – previously used the word ‘women’ to talk about female cancers.

It used to say: ‘Cancer of the womb (uterine or endometrial cancer) is a common cancer that affects the female reproductive system. It’s more common in women who have been through the menopause.’

But now the NHS website writes: ‘Most womb cancer usually starts in the lining of the womb (endometrium), this is also known as endometrial cancer.’

The move has come under fire, according to the Times, from researchers into birth and childcare who worry that those with poor language skills who already have ‘worse health outcomes’ could find it difficult to understand the NHS website. 

Dr Karleen Gribble of Western Sydney University, lead author of a recent review on the importance of sexed language in birth and childcare, said she thinks ‘desexed language’ is ‘well intentioned’ but could put health at ‘risk’ 

She did acknowledge that there were some parts – subheadings that still used the word women – but added: ‘The very first thing needs to be who does this apply to – who needs to listen to the rest of this? Then you can give them information.’

Other examples on the NHS website – part of NHS Digital that now is under NHS England – include referring to ovarian cancer as affecting ‘the two organs that store the eggs needed to make babies’ and over 50s. 

It previously said: ‘Ovarian cancer, or cancer of the ovaries, is one of the most common types of cancer in women.

‘The ovaries are a pair of small organs located low in the tummy that are connected to the womb and store a woman’s supply of eggs.

‘Ovarian cancer mainly affects women who have been through the menopause (usually over the age of 50), but it can sometimes affect younger women.’

Others like Ovarian Cancer Action – who raise awareness for this type of cancer – have not adopted this terminology and instead say: ‘Ovarian Cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women with around 7,000 new cases diagnosed in the UK each year.’ 

Dr Gribble in her paper ‘Effective communication about pregnancy, birth, lactation, breastfeeding and newborn care : the importance of sexed language’ said ‘desexing language’ could have huge issues. 

She write: ‘Those who are young, with low literacy or education, with an intellectual disability, from conservative religious backgrounds, or being communicated to in their non-native language are at increased risk of misunderstanding desexed language 

‘However, even women with high levels of education may not be familiar with female reproductive processes and terms of female anatomy and physiology and so may not understand some desexed terms.

‘They may not know, for example, that ‘a person with a cervix’ is a woman and refers to them.’

She also wrote that referring to women by their body parts could risk ‘othering’ and ‘dehumanising’ them.

For example, the term ‘pregnant woman’ identifies the subject as a person experiencing a physiological state, whereas ‘gestational carrier’ or ‘birther’ marginalizes their humanity,’ the paper says.

A source at the Government told the Times this could be ‘harmful’.