New Delhi: For the first time, women’s health issues will be a priority for Indian lawmakers. India will have a dedicated Parliamentarians’ Forum on Women’s Health (PFWH)—an initiative to focus on women’s health, an issue largely neglected in parliamentary discourse so far.
The forum, launched by the non-profit FRIDA-Women’s Health Advocacy Lab, brings together eight Members of Parliament from seven political parties and six states to push for greater investment, research, and policy attention to women’s health.
The MPs include K.R. Suresh Reddy (BRS, Telangana), Maddila Gurumoorthy (YSRCP, Andhra Pradesh), Vishal Patil (Independent, Maharashtra), Dr Fauzia Khan (NCP-SP, Maharashtra), Dr T. Sumathy alias Thamizhachi (DMK, Tamil Nadu), Pradyut Bordoloi (INC, Assam), Sulata Deo (BJD, Odisha), and Jothimani (INC, Tamil Nadu).
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‘Need of the hour’
Speaking to ThePrint about why such a forum is critical, DMK MP Dr T. Sumathy said women’s health is often the first casualty in their daily lives.
“Health is the last word in a woman’s dictionary. From skipping breakfast to neglecting care during her menstrual cycle, her health becomes secondary once she dons many roles in her career and family. That is why prioritising women’s health in Parliament is urgent,” she said.
Dr Fauzia Khan (NCP-SP) stressed the importance of linking women’s health with budgetary provisions. She argued that without allocations, no meaningful action can follow.
“Health should be treated as a fundamental right. Rising cases of cancer, mental illness and other diseases make it imperative that women’s health be backed by budgetary commitments,” she said.
Khan also pointed to everyday gaps that require policy focus. While India has a gender-responsive budget in theory, she asked, “Where do we have toilets for women? Where do we have breastfeeding rooms in public spaces? A forum like this can place these concerns firmly on the parliamentary agenda.”
Sumathy added that gender budgeting must not only allocate resources but also address age- and region-specific needs. She cited her own survey in South Chennai, conducted with a Delhi-based research group, which revealed alarming rates of anaemia among women.
“From rural women’s health to adolescent girls and elderly women, every stage needs attention. Focused studies and expert committees can help design these interventions,” she suggested.
Idea behind the initiative
Prakshi Saha, founder of FRIDA Health and the mind behind the initiative, told ThePrint that women’s health, like climate change, requires non-partisan attention. “It doesn’t matter what your party interests are. These are issues that cut across politics and must be prioritised. We are bringing together MPs across parties who are committed to this cause,” she said.
Saha explained that FRIDA will support MPs with research, policy briefs, and state-specific health data ahead of each parliamentary session.
“For example, cancer burden is disproportionately high in the Northeast. We will provide MPs with evidence so they can raise these matters meaningfully in Parliament. Our aim is to enable them with research and convene at least one physical meeting where members can set agendas together,” she added.
The forum will also serve as a platform for knowledge exchange, innovative interventions, and continuous engagement with the larger mission of advancing gender-equitable health policies and embedding accountability mechanisms.
Priorities on the table
The forum’s first agenda will be gender budgeting, along with long-pending issues such as the implementation of the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer. Saha said these systemic interventions require sustained parliamentary advocacy. “We want to keep the forum’s objectives broad enough to accommodate diverse constituencies, but gender budgeting is systemic. Cervical cancer prevention, too, has been promised for years and must be prioritised,” she explained.
The forum is expected to begin preparations for the upcoming winter session of Parliament. The monsoon session, Saha said, was spent onboarding MPs and securing their commitment—an “exhausting but essential” process. Now, the focus will shift to action.
FRIDA is preparing to release a Women’s Health Landscape Report, based on the last three to four rounds of NFHS data. The report examines progress and gaps across five key areas: Maternal health, malnutrition, anaemia, contraceptive use and family planning, cancers such as breast and cervical, and mental health.
“The idea is to see where India stands and how much progress has been made in the past decade. Maternal health, for instance, has shown significant improvement—India has made remarkable strides there, which even the WHO acknowledges. But other areas like cancer, nutrition, and mental health remain neglected,” Saha said.
In addition to the landscape report, the forum will also release five detailed policy briefs to guide MPs. These will cover maternal health, breast cancer, cervical cancer, malnutrition and anaemia, and the intersection of climate change and women’s health.
Saha pointed out that these thematic deep-dives would help Parliamentarians raise state-specific and evidence-backed issues during debates, question hours, and committee meetings. “We are also intentionally looking at intersections that are often left out of mainstream conversations, like the link between climate change and women’s health,” she added.
A growing collective
Currently eight members strong, the PFWH is expected to expand. Saha confirmed that FRIDA is in talks with MPs from the BJP, TMC, SP, and JMM, and hopes to grow the forum to 15+ members within the next two months.
India already has parliamentary forums on issues like water conservation and road safety—informal bodies chaired by the Speaker that bring MPs together across party lines. But none so far has been dedicated to women’s health. “This is the first of its kind, with MPs themselves at the centre stage,” Saha emphasised.
For MPs, the forum is already becoming a space to pool efforts. Dr T. Sumathy (DMK), who had earlier introduced a private bill on breast cancer in 2022 and organised a seminar with expert recommendations, said such initiatives can now be represented collectively.
“When conversations begin in a forum like this, they carry more weight and move to a more productive platform. The cross-party participation is especially encouraging—women may be treated as minorities in many contexts, but under one umbrella we can speak with a stronger, united voice,” she said.
Dr Maddila Gurumoorthy (YSRCP) added that women’s health is not just a medical concern but a societal imperative. In a statement, he said he chose to join the initiative because empowering women with knowledge and access to care “strengthens families, communities, and the nation”.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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