We demand a national healthcare plan for endometriosis.

We demand a national healthcare plan for endometriosis patients to make sure that everyone receives equal treatment. The numbers of diagnosed endometriosis patients is very high and the number is growing every day. Due to the increasing and alarming numbers it is crucial to develop a healthcare plan.

Currently the gap in the healthcare system makes it a lottery who receives the right treatment. As a patient you are totally dependent on the doctors’ knowledge and attitude towards endometriosis, which too often results in the wrong or no care at all. Without treatment the endometrioses can spread and in the end result in life long suffering. To get a diagnosis takes in general 8 years from the first contact with the healthcare system. 8 years in which the endometriosis can spread, grow and make irreversible damage to internal organs such as the bladder or ovaries.

Untreated endometriosis also increases the risk of infertility, nerve damages and scar tissue with pain and psychical damage as a consequence. The disease does not only have an impact on the patient but the patients family and the society as well. Anyone who seeks treatment for endometriosis has to endure suspicion and degrading comments implying that you seek care only to get heavy painkillers.

The care for endometriosis is based on the view of an gender binary system where only women are perceived to suffer from this illness. The exclusion of transgendered patients makes it hard for this group to seek the help they need. Therefore it is vital that the endometriosis care is also gender neutral.

We need this national healthcare plan to ensure that all in need of help receive the treatment they need without the risk of getting denied because the doctor lacks knowledge of endometriosis. Endometriosis affects that 1 out of 10 fertile people with uterus which makes it a common disease that is shockingly unknown. Help us change this so that endometrioses gets as well known as cancer so that no one in the future has to endure lifelong pain and damage due to undiagnosed endometriosis.