'As shadow minister for women's health, I see scandalous injustices'
The various facets of gender inequality are well documented, and hardly exclusive to Scotland.
Across the developed world, we are paid less than our male counterparts, less likely to be promoted and the caring responsibilities at home almost always fall on us.
More seriously, women are predominantly the victims of domestic violence, a scourge that gets worse every year.
And of course, elsewhere in the world, the picture for female welfare is worse still, even when it comes to the most basic of human rights.
One area that tends to slip under the radar in Scotland is women's health, especially those conditions that are exclusive to us.
Last week, statistics were finally published in relation to cervical cancer, a serious killer among women.
The data gathering for this has been a farce over the past few years, and some of the statistics published by Public Health Scotland pose more questions than they answer.
Within the document, it stated that of those invited for screening last year, barely 50% showed up for the process.
When my office's own research produced a similar figure earlier this year, a Scottish Government minister got in touch to say my conclusion was wrong.
And yet PHS, the SNP government's own agency, appears to have arrived at the same result.
For women in deprived areas, the screening rate is even poorer.
That means, right across the country, there are thousands of women at risk of serious illness and death because the government cannot properly get through to them and convince them of the need to get checked.
Another poorly served cohort is women suffering from endometriosis, a painful and debilitating disease that can have a major impact on those trying to have a baby.
The situation is different from cervical screening, as anyone requiring treatment will know about it due to the hellish impact it has on their life.
Addressing those issues should be a priority for the NHS, yet the statistics indicate it is anything but.
My research shows that across Scotland, there are hundreds of women waiting in agony to commence treatment.
In some health boards, the longest waits for this to happen run into hundreds of days.
For a woman living with this, the experience is unbearable.
It's not just the pain and anxiety – often their entire life is on hold.
That can range from family planning and long-held personal ambitions to career progression or further study.
Again, these issues aren't exclusive to Scotland.
But they are exclusive to women, and if we are to be serious about reducing all gender inequalities, the care of conditions which only women experience needs to be better.
We keep hearing about the challenges the NHS faces in Scotland, but the fact it is entirely devolved to the Scottish Parliament can also be considered an opportunity.
By improving the treatment of and screening for conditions which only affect women, we could be a genuine world leader and example in this field.
Better still, achieving it would also greatly improve the quality of life for a great many females in this country.
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