On a Saturday afternoon on 23rd June 1984, a large public meeting was held at an hotel in Euston, London. Committed to promoting the pioneering work of Dr Katharina Dalton for the treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome, a condition, suffered by millions of women in the UK and worldwide, the meeting elected the first committee of The National Association for Premenstrual Syndrome (NAPS). That committee embarked on a mission that over the past 40 years has helped transform the lives of countless women and their families. Today NAPS is still the only UK charity dedicated to promoting the interests of those who have, through no fault of their own, to endure what can be a devastating condition.
However, the mission of 1984 has yet to be accomplished: too many GPs are still not providing appropriate treatment to those who seek their help – NAPS hears of women not being properly diagnosed for decades and tragically there are women who lose their lives to their illness; diagnosing and treating PMS is still not part of medical training and following the Strategic Review on Women’s Health by the government in 2021, in spite of a major submission by NAPS, the official report with recommendations, mentioned PMS once!
The past 40 years has seen NAPS work tirelessly to improve the wellbeing of all PMS sufferers with many successes but there is still so much to do. We have changed our name to The National Association for Premenstrual Syndromes so as to embrace all type of PMS including PMDD but we remain the same organisation, led by renowned health professionals within a dedicated committee, respected and consulted by Health Care Professionals and always the Lifeline for so many (current estimate 800,000 in the UK whose wellbeing is severely impacted by PMS).
Please do promote our work when you can, fundraise/donate towards our work when you can and always contact us if you need specialist information, advice and support to manage your PMS successfully.
Jackie Howe CEO NAPS