Canadian committee studying top women’s health issues. What are they?

'There's not a health issue that doesn't have an impact on women,' said Cindy Moriarty, a Health Canada official during a committee meeting for a planned study on women’s health.

A House of Commons committee is studying the biggest health issues affecting women in Canada amid heightened scrutiny over gender gaps in health care and major strains across the country.

The House of Commons standing committee on health held its first meeting on Monday focusing on a planned study on women’s health. The committee normally has just one female member but on Monday swapped in multiple women from the Liberal, Conservative and Bloc Quebecois caucuses for the hearing. The NDP has also said it will do so.

Cindy Moriarty, director general of health programs and strategic initiatives at Health Canada, highlighted sexual and reproductive health, cancer research and breast cancer screening in particular as key priorities she hopes the committee will probe closely.

“There’s not a health issue that doesn’t have an impact on women, doesn’t require that attention,” she told MPs in Ottawa.

While Canada has made progress, gaps still remain in the understanding of women’s health issues, Moriarty added.

“Today, much more attention is paid to women’s health and a greater general understanding of women’s health issues exists than was the case even a decade ago,” she said. “However, to close the gender gap in health, more research is required that focuses on health priorities that uniquely and disproportionately or differently affect women.”

This includes research with trans and non-binary people, who are affected by women’s health issues, as well as better data, Moriarty said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront and exacerbated pre-existing challenges in Canada’s health-care system. In particular for women, this has resulted in delays in breast, ovarian or cervical cancer screenings, procedures and treatments.