As the maker of Veozah, which treats menopause-related vasomotor symptoms, Astellas Pharma has a vested interest in breaking down the societal stigma that may stop women from seeking care for their hot flashes and night sweats.
To that end, the drugmaker has debuted commercials for Veozah that put those symptoms front and center—and promise to turn them into “not flashes”—and, on the unbranded front, is now launching a global program to fight menopause stigma in the workplace.
The “Pledge to Champion a Menopause-Inclusive Workplace” initially began last fall as an internal initiative, but Astellas is now rolling it out worldwide for other businesses to join, with the external launch tied to Menopause in the Workplace Day on Sept. 7.
The goal of the program is to make workplaces more supportive toward women going through menopause, which it aims to achieve by offering a variety of educational resources and opportunities to employees and managers to help them better understand menopause.
Strategies employed by the initiative, among others, include the creation of a menopause ambassador program, which recruits people to provide peer support and head up local projects, and training for employees and allies so they can better start and participate in conversations with both coworkers and loved ones experiencing menopause.
Astellas has vowed to continuously monitor the impacts of the program and feedback from participants to adapt its strategy as needed over time to be as helpful as possible.
The global launch of the program comes not long after Astellas conducted its “Menopause Experience and Attitudes” survey, which spanned nearly 14,000 respondents across six countries.
Several of the survey’s questions focused specifically on the workplace experience of women going through menopause. About one in every 12 respondents who’d experienced menopause said they felt like they’d been discriminated against in their careers due to menopause, and one in 20 said they believe they’d lost out on pay raises or promotions because of it.
More than a third of respondents said they’d experienced some kind of negative impact in the workplace—from reduced productivity to a fear of talking to colleagues or managers about menopause. In total, nearly 60% of those surveyed said they believe women are not well supported at work.
“The impact of societal and workplace stigma around menopause should not be ignored and can be detrimental to the wellbeing of people experiencing menopause,” Katsuyoshi Sugita, chief people officer at Astellas, said in a statement sent to Fierce Pharma Marketing. “And this isn’t just a personal issue; it’s a significant barrier to productivity, talent retention and overall workplace well-being. Organisations have a responsibility to change the narrative around menopause and build environments where people feel supported and empowered to talk about their experiences.”