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Australia has been too slow in adopting new technologies to manage heavy menstrual bleeding, argues a leading gynaecological surgeon who says this puts us at odds with most other wealthy countries.

Professor Jason Abbott, from UNSW’s Faculty of Medicine, says the national hysterectomy rate is one of the highest reported in the OECD and is concerned the procedure continues to be overused at the expense of uterine preserving surgery.

Pointing to AIHW data contained in the Second Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation, Prof Abbott notes hysterectomy rates for HMB with benign causes may have fallen slightly in most regions since the 1980s but he argues they have not fallen fast enough.