She said a lot of the shame around menopause was linked to negative attitudes towards women, making them vulnerable and unjustifiably labelled for many wrongs in society.

Madam Gomashie made the statement on the floor of Parliament on the misconceptions and the "hush hush surrounding menopause.

She said menopause as explained by the Centre for Integrated Healthcare was a natural biological process in a woman's life when she had reached the permanent end of menstruation and fertility.

In most instances a woman is said to be menopausal when she has not had her period for 12 months continuously and it was a transition that occurs over months and years.

She said it was characterized by two stages; perimenopause and post-menopause and during this process a woman's body was said to produce less of the hormones oestrogen and progesterone.

"Menopause and perimenopause symptoms can have a huge impact on the life of a woman, including relationships and work, she added.

As signs of menopause, a woman may experience hot flashes (getting warm in the face, neck, or chest), night sweats, mood swings, irregular periods, decreased fertility, sleep disturbance, changes in metabolism, increased abdominal fat, thinning of bones and hair, among others.

She said many of these symptoms had further implications for the health of women, including increasing their risk of cardiac conditions.

She said menopausal women in some African communities were eventually accorded the same status as men, particularly, due to the lack of proper education on this natural phenomenon of women, women get labelled an categorised with descriptions that were heart-wrenching and punishments meted out to them.

The MP said some men also went through these biological changes, which was referred to as 'male menopa known in medical terms as andropause.

She said the male counterparts hardly get subjected to the level of mockery and humiliation that women who experience menopause were subjected to and the process was not as debilitating in men because the implicated hormones in men.

She said aside from public mockery and humiliation of menopausal women, women also endured such blame and humiliation daily, privately.

affect a limited set of functions.

Madam Gomashie said some concerns of women were brushed off and categorised as emanating from a person suffering from menopause for which attention should not be paid.

"As a result, society fails to make the necessary provision to support women during this stage of their lives," she added.

She said along with menstruation, menopause had frequently been exploited as the punch in jokes and as a means of degrading and humiliating women.

The MP said although some people might find hormonal fluctuations amusing, these were typical physiological changes that most women go through.

She said a woman's biological changes, especially those th that come by age, should not be regarded as the fault of women, as a result, there was the need to sensitise societies out of these.

She said, "our societies must be able to coexist and encourage women through these challenges."

The MP said additionally, what women need, in appreciation for their roles in their productive years, was empathy and care.

She said the world could not be championing the sixteen SDG's, especially goals 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health), 5 (Gender Equality) and 8 (Decent work and Economic degrading and humiliating women.

She said the world could not be championing the sixteen SDG's, especially goals 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health), 5 (Gender Equality) and 8 (Decent work and Economic

Growth) and still be comfortable with using menopause as an excuse to deny women the dignity these goals seek to give.

Madam Gomashie recounting her own personal experience said she was already menopausal when she was nominated, vetted, and sworn in as a Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts by the former President John Dramani Mahama.

"In that same bracket, I picked the forms for the primaries to contest in the Ketu South Constituency and wor vote difference in 2019," she said.

She said her status as a woman in the "menopause zone" had not affected her ability to perform her duties as an MP.

She said women, who were experiencing menopause could still be productive in their society and should therefore be supported to do more.

The MP said in some countries, there were incentives for the women in this stage of life to make them comfortable and equipped to travel on this journey with dignity and pride.

She said in the private sector, companies which were taking such steps were gaining the competitive edge.