Sajid Javid has threatened to wage war on gender-neutral language after the NHS refused to remove the term “women” from its online health guidance.
The minister, 52, has stated several times that he does not agree with the health service’s decision to remove the term from its ovarian cancer guideline webpage.
The phrase ‘women’ does not exist in the NHS.uk illness summary, instead being substituted with the ambiguous and gender-neutral term ‘anyone.’
The term initially occurs on the third page of the website’s ovarian cancer section. ‘Ovarian cancer can affect anyone who has ovaries. Women, trans males, non-binary persons, and intersex people with ovaries are all included,’ it says.
According to The Sun, NHS Digital chiefs have been informed that any future modifications to gendered terminology must be approved by authorities from Mr Javid’s Department of Health.
‘Common sense and the correct language,’ the Health Secretary earlier told Sky News, should be used to ‘provide them the greatest possible health care.’
Gender-neutral terminology, according to Dr Karleen Gribble, a child health specialist and professor at Western Sydney University, are ‘less accessible’ and might have fatal repercussions.
‘Many individuals have no idea if they have a cervix or a prostate, but they comprehend males and women,’ she said.
‘The risk is that people will ignore public health messages.’ It might lead to a deadly delay in obtaining medical help.’
It comes after it was discovered that the word ‘women’ does not exist in the NHS.uk illness summary.
‘Ovarian cancer affects the two tiny organs (ovaries) that store the eggs needed to form kids,’ it says instead.
‘Ovarian cancer may afflict anybody with ovaries, but it primarily affects those over 50.’
On the third page of the ovarian cancer part of the website, the term ‘women’ appears for the first time.
‘Ovarian cancer can affect anyone who has ovaries. It goes on to say that this includes women, trans males, non-binary persons, and intersex people with ovaries.
‘The NHS website offers information for everyone,’ said an NHS Digital representative. We check the pages on a regular basis to ensure that they are written in a way that is inclusive, courteous, and relevant to the individuals who are reading them.’
Official NHS guidance on ovarian, womb, and cervix cancers was surreptitiously deleted from their webpages last month, according to MailOnline.
Three sections detailing tumors exclusively present in biological women lacked the word on their home pages.
‘Well, look, I haven’t seen that particular story, but I have heard of situations like that, and I don’t believe it’s appropriate,’ Mr Javid said when asked about allegations that the NHS had removed the phrase from guidance pages on its website.
‘You won’t be shocked to learn that, as Health Secretary, I believe that your sex matters, that your biological sex is vitally essential in ensuring that you receive the best treatment possible.’
‘I am looking into this, and you’ll know, look, the NHS, there are many different trusts, and I want to listen to why someone might have taken a different approach – I don’t want to just assume – but I think I’ve made my views clear on this,’ Mr Javid said when asked if he will get the wording changed back.
‘I understand there is some sensitivity surrounding this phrase, but we need to utilize common sense and the appropriate language to provide the best possible patient care,’ he added.
It comes amid persistent worries over trans-inclusive language in NHS advice, with services presently in the midst of a ‘woke’ storm about de-gendering terminology surrounding women and pregnancy by removing phrases such as nursing.
Even though it is physiologically impossible, some student midwives have been trained how to assist biological men in giving birth.
‘Ovarian cancer, or cancer of the ovaries, is one of the most frequent kinds of cancer in women,’ according to the original edition of the ovarian NHS cancer website.
‘Ovarian cancer mostly affects women who have gone through the menopause (typically over the age of 50), although it can sometimes afflict younger women,’ it says.
However, both lines were deleted in a January update that was only discovered this month by activists.
‘Anyone with ovaries can have ovarian cancer, although it typically affects individuals over 50,’ a new line was inserted instead.
Experts also warned that by overcomplicating health messaging, the adjustment might end up being detrimental for women.
The NHS, on the other hand, has justified the change, claiming that it aims to make the sites “as useful as possible to everyone who needs them.”
Each year, around 7,500 new instances of ovarian cancer are diagnosed in the United Kingdom, with approximately 4,200 fatalities.
‘Cancer of the womb (uterine or endometrial cancer) is a frequent cancer that affects the female reproductive system,’ according to the NHS’s womb cancer website, which used to start with: ‘Disease of the womb (uterine or endometrial cancer) is a common cancer that affects the female reproductive system.’
‘Women who have gone through the menopause are more likely to get it.’
However, in October of last year, the page was altered to remove these sentences, and there was no further reference of women on the main page.
‘Cervical cancer occurs in a woman’s cervix,’ according to the earlier edition of the NHS cervical cancer page (the entrance to the womb from the vagina). It is more common in sexually active women between the ages of 30 and 45.’
Inflation is rising faster than expected, according to the Bank. Officials predicted it would reach slightly around 10% in May. It is now forecast to reach 11% in October, the highest level in more than 40 years.
‘Worries will ratchet up that, considering inflation is projected to surge to eye-watering heights of 11%, the Bank of England will be severely behind the curve in trying to bring it down,’ said Susannah Streeter of financial platform Hargreaves Lansdown.
‘As predicted, the MPC raised interest rates again, but they’re not delivering a definitive warning shot to suggest they’ll do everything it takes to bring inflation down,’ said Andrew Sentance, a former member of the MPC.
Many people may see the Bank’s slow approach to rate rises as a sign that it has ‘bottled it,’ according to Laith Khalaf of A J Bell.