On Monday February 14, 2022, a committee of endometriosis experts met to launch a national plan to fight this disease. Priorities: research and awareness.
Endometriosis affects one in ten women in France. Causing pain that can be very debilitating, this disease is caused by a mutation of the tissues of the uterus, called the endometrium, in other parts of the body. The disease can cause infertility, and its diagnosis is long: up to seven years of medical wandering on average.
Faced with the appeal of associations such as Endofrance and the mobilization of actors in the field to bring the subject, the government decided to launch a national plan to fight against this disease. Three main axes are put forward: the development of research, the improvement of diagnosis and better care. The Ministry of Health has thus announced the creation of the largest epidemiological database in the world dedicated to the disease, to serve as a basis for numerous national and international epidemiological studies.
Improving the diagnosis and management of endometriosis
In addition to the essential development of research to understand the causes of the disease, raising awareness of it among health professionals and patients is essential. Asked by France Bleu, the gynecologist Céline Plard-Dugas also suggests the idea of a mapping professionals who are experts in endometriosis in France: “Because it is harmful to arrive in the office of a professional who does not know the disease, who will once again tell the patient that there is no nothing, and that his pains are in his head”. In addition to this, prevention campaigns should be carried out. The Endofrance association says it is waiting for concrete measures, welcoming these advances.