Investing in Women’s Health Care
If you’re someone who doesn’t have endometriosis, or doesn’t know someone with endo, this may not seem important.
But women across the Hawkesbury and north western Sydney can now access endometriosis and pelvic pain care close to home, at a specialist clinic in Rouse Hill and I know it could change their lives.
Located at the Rouse Hill Town Medical and Dental Centre, the Evoca Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinic is staffed by nurses, GPs with a specialisation in endo and pelvic pain, physios and other health professionals who can offer multidisciplinary and targeted treatment.
It is one of the first of 22 clinics the Albanese government has established to deal with this debilitating condition that strikes 1 in 9 women from puberty to beyond menopause and takes an average of seven years to be diagnosed and treated. It also costs some sufferers tens of thousands of dollars, mostly in lost wages.
The $58.3 million package we’ve rolled out to fund the clinics also covers an additional Medicare item for MRI scans for women with endo having fertility problems and the development an endometriosis management plan.
We know there needs to be changes to the health care system, so it works better for women, and at a recent women’s health forum I held with Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney, we heard from women who’ve faced misdiagnosis, not being listened to, and being ignored- often when at their most vulnerable.
The results of a new national survey called #EndGenderBias confirm that this experience is overwhelmingly shared across the country, with 70% of women experiencing bias in the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions, while 70% of experts felt women were ‘only slightly or not at all’ believed about a health issues.
The endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics are designed to change that for women with the condition. I’d really encourage any woman or girl suffering in silence with pelvic pain or endometriosis to reach out to them and make an appointment. You deserve to be heard and you don’t have to endure this pain.
