The new national strategy for the fight against endometriosis was budgeted and detailed during the first steering committee.
- Endometriosis affects 10% of women of childbearing age in France, ie 1.5 to 2.5 million women.
- It potentially concerns all menstruating women and can appear as early as adolescence.
One month after the announcement by President Emmanuel Macron of the implementation of a national strategy to fight against endometriosis, a first steering committee was held on Monday February 14 in a Paris hotel. According to information from 20 minutesthree priority areas have been defined: the development of research, the improvement of patient care and the training of health professionals in this still little-known gynecological pathology.
Specific territorial sectors
In concrete terms, a priority research program and equipment (PEPR) bringing together all of the best endometriosis researchers from all disciplines will be set up by Inserm. 25 to 30 million euros will be released for this purpose. “It is a pathology on which there are still many gaps, in particular concerning its origin and on the treatments. Everyone agrees that there is still a lot of progress to be made”, justifies the cabinet of the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
Regarding the improvement of patient care, the government will develop specific territorial sectors for endometriosis, with a budget of 4.5 million per year. “There are embryonic networks in certain cities, four sectors in Ile-de-France, a dozen active networks in the region, which cover part but rarely the entire field”, explains the entourage of Olivier Véran. “The ambition is to draw up specifications quickly and allow ourselves 18 months to deploy thirty sectors”, he adds.
Training of health professionals
Finally, training will be offered to health professionals who may be in contact with women with endometriosis, to put an end to the idea “that having pain during your period is normal”. “Large-scale campaigns will see the light of day in the coming weeks to make this disease known to all French people, from all walks of life and from all generations”, adds the Ministry of Health.
Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of fragments of tissue similar to the endometrium (mucosa lining the inside of the uterus) outside the uterine cavity, at the level of different organs: genitalia, ovaries, rectum, bladder, intestines, lungs, etc. At the time of menstruation, these tissue fragments react to hormonal stimulation and cause inflammation, itself the cause of disabling pain and a wide variety of symptoms (digestive disorders, urinary problems, fatigue, etc.).
.
