Scotland’s National Health Service has stopped all new prescriptions of anti-puberty drugs and other hormone treatments for minors, citing a sweeping review of youth gender services launched in England last week. It is the sixth country in Europe to restrict such treatments and its changes are among the most restrictive.
The reviewcommissioned by NHS England and conducted by Dr. Hilary Cass, an independent pediatrician, concluded over four years that the evidence for the benefits of youth gender treatments was “extremely weak” and that pressing questions remained about potential long-term risks.
This month, following recommendations from Dr. Ma’am, NHS England has stopped puberty blockers for children outside of clinical trials. Hormone treatments, including oestrogens and testosterone, are still available to teenagers in England aged 16 and over.
The new changes in Scotland go further, stopping prescriptions of puberty blockers, while also restricting hormone treatments until teenagers turn 18. The changes will not affect patients already receiving these drugs from the country’s Youth Service.
“We will continue to provide anyone referred to the Youth Gender Service with the psychological support they need while we review pathways in light of the findings,” said Dr Emilia Crighton, director of public health for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. , which houses Scotland’s only youth sex clinic, Sandyford Sexual Health Services.
Concerned about growing demand for treatments for teenagers in recent years, health officials in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and England have changed national health guidelines to limit medical treatments for teens with gender dysphoria, known as as discomfort.
Transgender advocacy groups in Scotland criticized the changes, saying they were prompted by a growing backlash against transgender people.
“We regret that this change will result in some young people not being able to access the care they need or having to wait even longer for it,” said Vic Valentine, director of advocacy group Scottish Trans. .
Prescriptions for puberty blockers in Scotland were “extremely rare and cautious”, leading to long waiting lists, the team said.
According to public records obtained by The guardianthe Sandyford Clinic referred 71 children for puberty blockers from 2016 to 2023. And BBC Scotland it said that by the end of 2023, 1,100 children were on the waiting list for youth equality services, with some waiting more than four years to be seen.
In 2022, a suggested A law that would make it easier for transgender people to change their gender markers on identification documents in Scotland has spurred a coalition of conservative lawmakers and feminists pushing to bar transgender women from women’s spaces.
Senior health officials in Scotland welcomed the recommendations from the review by Dr. Ms., citing an increasingly polarized debate over transgender rights that had jeopardized medical care for young people.
“We agree with Dr. Hillary Cash when she emphasizes that the ‘increasingly toxic, ideological and polarized public debate’ does nothing to help young people accessing this care,” Neil Gray, Scotland’s health secretary, said in a statement. “They are the ones who should be at the center of our thoughts when we discuss this issue.”