A few years ago, saying the word "menopause" out loud at a family gathering would have made the room go quiet. Today it's in newspapers, on social media, and even in some office conversations. Tamanna Singh, Founder MenoVeda, Certified Menopause & Hormone Coach says, ‘I feel genuinely hopeful about the raising awareness about menopause in our country. But I also feel a little impatient, because awareness is where the work begins, not where it ends.’
India has an enormous number of women entering and living through menopause, and estimates run well past a hundred million. The average age here is a little under fifty, which means many women will spend a third of their lives in the post-menopausal years. This is not a niche issue, this is a population-level reality our Indian health system hasn't fully planned for.
How Are Women In Their Menopause Phase Treated In India
In reality women who put up with symptoms of menopause are silently struggling with it because they are "supposed to." Many women are told that it's stress or just a natural ageing process. Many women who have no idea what to do at this time, or whom to see. Every single woman has different symptoms and not one rule is fit for all. A gynaecologist may focus on one part of the picture, a physician on another, and nobody on the whole woman. Meanwhile when a woman is struggling with the symptoms of menopause she is also looking after children, ageing parents and often a job. So what should one do to move beyond awareness: there are three things that can be done to improve women’s menstrual phase in India.
What Should Be Done To Improve Women's Menstrual Health In India?
To improve women menstrual heath in India Menoveda founder, Tamanna Singh says, “First a clear path. A woman should know where to go at 42 when her cycles change, and again at 52 when her bones, heart and mood need attention. Right now that path barely exists.”
The second thing that she mentioned was to have respect for how India actually lives. She says, ‘We have Ayurveda, yoga, food traditions and strong family structures. These are assets, not obstacles. The best model won't copy a western template and paste it here. It will bring together modern clinical evidence and traditional knowledge, and be honest about what each can and cannot do. Ayurvedic formulations, supported by clinical validation, with doctors available to talk.’
The third thing that she mentioned was, ‘access’. A woman in a tier-three town deserves the same quality of guidance as one in Mumbai or Delhi. Telehealth, regional languages, community health workers and workplaces all have a part to play. Employers in particular are waking up to the fact that a woman at the peak of her career may be quietly struggling with sleep and concentration.
Can India build A Global Model of Midlife Women's Healthcare ?
Tamanna Singh says ‘Yes’. India is not starting with the baggage some countries carry, and we have both the scale and the cultural depth to design something different: care that treats midlife as a phase to be supported, not a problem to be managed. But we need to be careful. A "model" is only worth anything if it helps the woman who hasn't heard of it. Real success will not be a conference or a policy paper. It will be a woman in her late forties saying that her mental and physical health has improved during her pre-menstrual, menstrual and post-menstrual phase. India's menopause moment is here and this World Menopause day we need to make it count.
Conclusion
Building a holistic, accessible healthcare model tailored to midlife women in India is essential to transforming menopause awareness into meaningful care and long-term well-being.
(Image Credits: Magnific)
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