THE VAGINA'S HUGE MEDICAL POTENTIAL IS GOING UNTAPPED.BUT NOT FOR MUCH LONGER

Scientists are beginning to investigate the organ’s potential healthcare applications... and there’s a lot of them

- DR MICHELLE GRIFFIN

In medicine, conversations about vaginas have been remarkably narrow. Usually, they only occur after the vaginal delivery of a child, when healthcare professionals access the cervix for screening or when the body of the uterus is examined for other medical procedures. And when vaginal health is reviewed, it's usually focused on infections such as sexually transmitted diseases and cancerous lesions.

But the vagina is a dynamic organ. Take, for example, the many biological changes that occur throughout the menstrual cycle. It also has its own microenvironment, a carefully balanced microbiome containing billions of bacteria, and we're only just beginning to understand the role this plays in vaginal, reproductive and public health.

The vagina's potential as a route for diagnostics and therapeutics has largely been ignored. But now, scientists, doctors and pharmaceutical companies have started to look at the organ in a new way.

As it can be easily self-accessed, the vagina allows for intervention anytime, anywhere. There's no need for hospital visits or invasive procedures. This gives women the benefit of near-complete independence and continuous monitoring or treatment. And new developments also mean the vagina could provide an easy route for delivering medication.