Clear clinical pathway for endometriosis treatment needed urgently – Chambers

Marking the beginning of Endometriosis Awareness Month, Senator Lisa Chambers is calling for a clear clinical pathway for endometriosis treatment to be established urgently. Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows around the womb and the vital organs in that area, causing many difficulties for women. Senator Chambers commented: "It marks the beginning of Endometriosis Awareness Month. This is a month-long campaign in which we highlight and draw attention to the challenges faced by one in ten Irish women and one in ten women globally who experience this chronic disease of which there is no cure. It is a severely debilitating disease and the problem exists that it takes, on average, between seven and 12 years to get a diagnosis in this country. Diagnosis takes so long because the condition is often misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed, the only way to diagnose endometriosis properly is through a laparoscopy procedure. Women must often push and fight to get this very simple and basic diagnostic treatment." The Senator added: “We need to reduce the diagnosis time to a maximum of one or two years. We need to have a clear clinical pathway for treatment. We need clinical guidelines for GPs in order that they can detect and diagnose the disease early on. We need proper menstrual education for young women in schools. We need wraparound services in pain management and mental health services. We also need training and increased specialisation to provide the proper, gold-plated standard of excision surgery as opposed to ablation." Senator Chambers is committed to working with her colleague, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to establish a clear clinical pathway for endometriosis treatment to be rolled out as quickly as possible.