Women's health plan: progress report

Our Next Steps Together

Since the publication of the Women's Health Plan, I have been so struck - and delighted - to experience the passion and drive that there is in Scotland to improve women's health and to address the inequalities in health that women experience on an everyday basis.

To fundamentally improve the health of women in Scotland, we must work together. The ambitions of the Women's Health Plan can only be achieved through working in partnership. In looking forward to the second and third years of the Plan, working together, involving the many partners who can contribute to improving women's health - and of course women themselves - will continue to be crucial.

As the Chair of the Women's Health Plan Implementation Programme Board, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to all those who have helped to achieve so much in such a short space of time. Since the publication of the Plan, we have made progress against all of the short-term actions – and with a number of the medium-term actions already showing significant progression.

This is of course just the beginning of a journey, but the direction is set, the journey has begun and we are travelling with women alongside us at every step of the way.

Professor Marion Bain: Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Chair of the Women's Health Plan Implementation Programme Board