Member's statement: Endometriosis Awareness Month
Member's statement by Mrs Linda Dillon on .
- MLA
- Mrs Linda Dillon
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 5 March 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Endometriosis Awareness Month
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4252356
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I associate myself with Sian Mulholland's remarks. I am speaking, in Endometriosis Awareness Month, on behalf of all women and girls in the North who suffer from endometriosis. In the words of Anne Donnelly from Donaghmore, what is happening is unforgivable, and she is right, because she has been left completely debilitated at 43 years of age. She had to retire from her teaching job. She may well end up in a wheelchair, because she has waited so long on treatment. She waited many years for a diagnosis, like so many other young women and girls. That was all down to the fact that there are not services, there is not the understanding, there is late diagnosis and there is extremely delayed treatment. The waiting lists for women and girls with endometriosis are among some of the longest in the North. That is yet another indication of the neglect of women here and their health needs. It is also an indication of the neglect to trust women to know their own bodies and what is wrong with them. People think that endometriosis is only a gynaecological problem, but it is also neurological, which is what affects people's mobility. That can result in women and girls ending up in a wheelchair and not living the full life that they could live if they were diagnosed and treated on time. That would not be acceptable if someone had cancer. If someone went to the doctor and said, "I think I might have cancer", late diagnosis and treatment would not be acceptable. It would limit their life and their chances in life, as does endometriosis. We cannot continue in that vein. There needs to be serious focus on it. We need the Minister to take it seriously. We need the Department to take it seriously. I know that some work is ongoing, but it needs to be sped up. We need to have focused teams. We need to have protected services for not only diagnosis but surgical procedures, because they are happening much too late, which makes them much less effective. It affects people's kidneys and bowels, as well as causing all the gynaecological issues. However, people do not know about the other issues. They do not know about the impact on your bowels, kidneys or mobility. I ask that the Department, the Minister and the trusts look at the issue and do some more work on awareness raising, for a start. Again, that is not just for the Health Minister; it is cross-departmental. We need to see something in our education system that teaches young women and girls about their bodies and about the fact that extremely painful periods are not normal. That is not normal, and you should not have to suffer it every month. If something is not right, it needs to be looked at, diagnosed and treated.
478 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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