White Paper on Menopause: Diagnosis and Recommendations 2025
Neglecting the menopause not only impacts individual well-being but also the entire national system. In the UK, the silent cost of menopause has been estimated at £10 billion annually. Failure to properly diagnose the condition can result in sick leave and the need to seek help from multiple specialists. Not to mention the incalculable costs women incur – loss of health, emotional problems, and physical discomfort. Yet, most countries fail to address this issue, leaving women, half of the population, to fend for themselves.
The "White Paper on Menopause: Diagnosis and Recommendations 2025" presents an analysis of the situation, along with recommended solutions and expected outcomes. It was developed by experts invited to the Menopause Round Table, established in 2023 by the Kulczyk Foundation in Warsaw. During the meetings, an interdisciplinary group discussed menopause in various aspects of life, resulting in solutions that address medical, cultural, social, and professional areas .
Midwives Map
One proposed solution is to activate midwives. This large professional group has room for new opportunities in the current demographic climate. Currently, only 3% of women in Poland would consult a midwife about menopause.* Every Polish woman is assigned a midwife through the National Health Fund, who provides support at every stage of life – not just those related to pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.
At the beginning of the year, the Kulczyk Foundation, under the patronage of the Ministry of Health, conducted a training course for midwives, "Counseling during the Menopausal Transformation." This led to the creation of an interactive map of specialists available in each voivodeship in Poland. This is another element highlighted in the White Paper. In smaller towns and villages, access to specialists is even more difficult than in large centers. Furthermore, women, not knowing what ails them, often go from specialist to specialist, seeking solutions to their ailments. In the UK, it has been calculated that there are an average of ten such visits. And the diagnosis is often perimenopause , accompanied by a number of non-obvious symptoms. Activating midwives to provide perimenopausal counseling would significantly reduce the burden on the system, reducing waiting lists at health centers.
Recipe for menopause
"Menopause affects us all! Neglecting this topic not only causes discomfort for women but also significant social and health costs. The lack of appropriate solutions and programs impacts the daily functioning of Polish women, including their professional lives. One in five working people in Poland is a woman of perimenopausal age – 42% of them are considering leaving or changing their job. Today, we have a ready-made solution – the first White Paper on Menopause in Poland. We have submitted it to decision-makers and are eagerly awaiting its results. Polish women are waiting for systemic change! " says Dominika Kulczyk , founder of the Kulczyk Foundation.
It is also worth asking what price—counted in billions of zlotys—the Polish economy pays when the most experienced female workforce prematurely retires or works below their potential due to the ignored menopause taboo? Calculating the silent cost of menopause is another recommendation from the White Paper on Menopause. Without public debate, the problem generates hidden costs that ultimately burden the entire system—from healthcare to the labor market. Normalization is a strategic investment in the health and stability of society.
The "White Book of Menopause" was submitted by the Kulczyk Foundation to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, the Patient Rights Ombudsman, the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and the National Health Fund.
The publication is available free of charge in two language versions: Polish and English and is divided into chapters:
- Education and social awareness
- Medical care
- Menopause at work
- Evaluation of the pilot course for midwives
