NGO advocates for more awareness on endometriosis in Nigeria

EndoSurvivors International Foundation (ESIF), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) promoting endometriosis awareness, is advocating the need to increase awareness and diagnosis of the disease in the country, as a way of managing the ailment.

Endometriosis is a condition when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (the endometrial stroma and glands, which should only be located inside the uterus) is found elsewhere in the body.

The condition is said to affect an estimated 176 million women worldwide, regardless of their ethnicity and social background. Many of such cases remain undiagnosed and are therefore not treated.

Olivia Nwankudu the founder of ESIF, said at the endometriosis conference recently held in Lagos that, it is a common clinical tenet that one woman out of ten develops endometriosis. In other words, 10 percent of the entire female population may have endometriosis.

“For a disease so prevalent, it is worrisome to find that there is little awareness about endometriosis, so much so that it takes an average of 10 to 12 years for a woman living with it to get a diagnosis in Nigeria and several parts of the world,” Nwankudu said.

According to Nwankudu, the endometriosis conference was organised to raise awareness about the health condition, and educate women, the public, as well as healthcare professionals.

“ESIF is committed to bringing an end to this infamous delay in diagnosis,” she said.

Also speaking at the conference, Dada Olu Shonibare, director of South-West Zone, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), encouraged the foundation to keep up the work with focus groups and organise educational programs that will not only raise awareness about endometriosis, but also equip people with relevant information they need to deal with the condition.

“it is important to seek government assistance with such projects, I challenge the team to strengthen informal and formal groups that can tackle the issue of endometriosis awareness,” Shonibare said.

Similarly, Bosede Afolabi, head, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH)  urged general practitioners not to delay in referring adolescents presenting with a history of severe menstrual pain and chronic pelvic pain because it is better for endometriosis to be suspected, diagnosed and treated earlier than later.

Reaction to endometriosis can be different for different patients, but typically known symptoms pointed out by resource persons at the conference included: headaches, nausea and or vomiting during one’s period, and diarrhoea or constipation.

Other symptoms are long and heavy periods, menstrual cramps, lower back, and upper leg pains, all of which can have serious consequences.

 ANTHONIA OBOKOH