Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has expressed her regret that women and girls have waited years to access proper care as she launched the country’s first National Endometriosis Framework, reports Breaking News.
She acknowledged that many have “missed out on” vital parts of life such as school, sports, and fertility opportunities, while enduring “chronic pain all of the time” due to a lack of effective treatment, reports Breaking News.
Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the womb lining grows in other parts of the body, often causing chronic and severe pain.
The condition is estimated to impact one in seven women in Ireland, and currently, there is no cure, reports Breaking News.
According to the Department of Health, the newly launched framework marks “an important milestone in the evolution of women’s healthcare in Ireland”.
Under this new approach, women and girls presenting with symptoms will be treated on the presumption that they have endometriosis, reports Breaking News.
Minister Carroll MacNeill said this shift acknowledges that women are “the best narrators of their own symptoms, of their own pain, and we’re trying to change the way in which their voices are heard in relation to endometriosis”.
Plans are in place to develop two new regional specialist centres in Galway and at the National Maternity Hospital, expanding the current network that includes centres in Dublin and Limerick, reports Breaking News.
More complex cases will be handled at two newly designated “super-regional” hubs based in Dublin and Cork.
The HSE also announced the recruitment of an additional colorectal surgeon and intends to perform over 100 extra procedures for patients awaiting treatment, reports Breaking News.
A nationwide awareness campaign focused on menstrual health is scheduled for next year, and doctors, including general practitioners, will receive additional communication and training to improve early detection and care.
Ruby Furney, 24, who attended the framework’s launch, shared that she has experienced endometriosis symptoms for over a decade. She said the condition has “ruined” her life “in a lot of aspects, adding: “It’s taken my social life. It’s really impacted my work life. It’s impacted relationships.”
As with many other Irish women, Ruby was forced to travel abroad to seek proper medical intervention. Just two weeks ago, she underwent a 10-hour surgery in Athens, reports Breaking News.
During the procedure, surgeons discovered that the disease had severely damaged her appendix. They removed 8cm of her bowel and treated organs that had become “stuck to my pelvis and stuck to my back”, reports Breaking News.
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