“Volcanic” and “very uncomfortable” – just some reactions from male MPs trying out a vest that simulates menopause hot flushes as part of an event raising awareness of the UK’s acute shortages of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products.

Wes Streeting, Stephen Kinnock and Nick Thomas-Symonds were among the politicians who tried out the device fitted with heated pads that mimics one of the most common and unpleasant symptoms.

“I’m feeling this on my back now,” said the former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, a few seconds after putting the vest on. “Imagine making a speech in the House of Commons and suddenly getting a hot flush. If [men] had this, we’d be complaining a lot.”

“If you pass out, we’ve got water,” joked Carolyn Harris MP, co-chair of the menopause taskforce, who sponsored the event at Portcullis House in Westminster on Tuesday to drum up support for measures to ease the HRT products shortage. “Welcome to my world. I don’t need the vest to be hot and bothered.”