Central Victorian agencies welcome National Action Plan for Endometriosis

Staff at some of those services are hopeful a National Action Plan for Endometriosis will help develop better diagnostic and treatment options, speed up diagnosis, and improve awareness and understanding of the condition.

That is, after all, what federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the plan, to be released today, would outline.

A National Endometriosis Steering Group will oversee the strategy’s implementation.

Related: National plan for endometriosis sufferers

The government has committed $1 million to providing GPs and other health professionals with educational resources about the chronic menstrual health disorder, which affects about 700,000 women and girls in Australia.

“This will include the development of a short course in endometriosis for primary healthcare professionals,” a statement said.

Developing a clinical guideline for endometriosis is also part of the plan, to establish best-practice care for patients.

“Hopefully it will mean that women get help quicker,” Bendigo Community Health Service’s Mary-Anne McCluskey said.

The sexual and reproductive health nurse said the strategy constituted a push to improve women’s lives and was hopeful the government’s $4.7 million plan would give women with endometriosis hope that something positive was being done.

Related: Women’s sexual health in the spotlight in Bendigo

Women’s Health Loddon Mallee executive officer Tricia Currie said a women’s sexual and reproductive health was a key part of her health, and the impacts of endometriosis on her life could be widespread.

She, too, welcomed the National Action Plan for Endometriosis.

“It’s been a struggle for women for a long time,” Ms Currie said.

She said women with endometriosis often told WHLM it had taken years to get a diagnosis – years in which they had endured symptoms including chronic pain.

(VIDEO: Chatting with Dr Angelika Borozdina about endometriosis)

Diagnostic delays for endometriosis were between seven – 12 years on average, according to the government.

“That’s a really long time that women put up with the symptoms of endometriosis,” Ms McCluskey said.

“The problem with that long delay of being diagnosed is it can affect fertility.”

She was aware of young women who came to BCHS already believing they would not be able to have children because of a family history of endometriosis.

Ms McCluskey said women with a family history of diagnosis were seven – 10 times more likely to have the condition.

But endometriosis didn’t necessarily mean a woman would be unable to have children.

“Women who have any concern with their periods should come and get checked out,” Ms McCluskey said.

Related: What’s the go with endo?

A surgical procedure called a laparoscopy is presently the key diagnostic tool for endometriosis.

Ms Currie said some women had had a number of other conditions with similar symptoms, such as abdominal bloating, explored before endometriosis was considered.

“There is still a lot we don’t know about [endometriosis],” she said.

Establishing a National Endometriosis Clinical and Scientific Trials Network is another component of the government’s plan.

Locally, organisations are understood to be weeks away from releasing the Loddon Mallee Regional Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategic Plan.

WHLM has also been inviting women to share their experiences of sexual and reproductive health as part of a project called Her Voice Matters.

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