– It is very disappointing that Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol has made such big words, and then it does not appear in the state budget, says Tine Elise Leonhardsen Tuven (22), who herself went five years with severe pain without knowing what it was wrong. On Thursday, the Labor Party and the Center Party presented proposals for the state budget for next year. NOK 20 million goes to the Research Council for research into women’s health. There is no increase from the previous budget. NOK 15.5 million will go to the National Center for Women’s Health Research. In the previous budget, NOK 14.9 million was set aside. What Leonhardsen Tuven reacts to the most is that no earmarked funds have been earmarked to specifically go to research into, among other things, endometriosis. – It says that women are not that important to society when they do not prioritize money for research into women’s diseases. After all, it goes beyond working life, social life and mental health. It has many major consequences. Facts about endometriosis Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to that in the uterus grows outside the uterus. It takes an average of seven years to be diagnosed. It is usually detected by peephole surgery. Because the symptoms can be very different, misdiagnosis is common. Common symptoms can include severe pain during menstruation, heavy bleeding, difficulty in conceiving, pain during intercourse and fatigue. Endometriosis occurs in approximately 10 percent of women and is the most common female disease we have Many people live without symptoms About 40 percent of infertile people have endometriosis The tissue can grow on the fallopian tubes, ovaries, peritoneum, intestines, ureter and bladder The most common form of treatment is peephole surgery and contraceptives such as birth control pills or IUDs Source: Endometriosis Association Photo: Bent Lindsetmo / news No concrete means From the time she was 13, Leonhardsen Tuven began to feel severe pain. Such severe pain that she periodically struggled to walk, threw up, was unable to attend school and was completely exhausted. And it would be five years before she was diagnosed with endometriosis around the ovaries and had peephole surgery. The 22-year-old is just one of many who spend several years in pain without knowing what is wrong. Endometriosis is one of the most common female diseases we have. But no earmarked funds have been set aside for research into the disease. Missing concreteness – I’m really disappointed, and you become a bit pessimistic. It is hair-raising that our women’s health and especially our patient group are not prioritized. That’s what the chairman of the Endometriosis Association, Elisabeth Larby, says. She says it is positive that the government says it wants to invest in women’s health. – But I miss seeing what will be concretely focused on. There is little guidance on how the treatment offer for endometriosis and adenomyosis should be prioritized. – Endometriosis and adenomyosis affect at least 500,000 Norwegians, and cost society at least NOK 13 billion annually. It affects patients, relatives and the economy – it’s a huge problem. It is indeed a crisis. You should be interested in solving that crisis, says Elisabeth Larby, chairman of the Endometriosis Association. Photo: The Endometriosis Association – More money is allocated to the hospitals, but it is then again up to the hospitals how they manage the funds. So it is not clear how our patient group should be focused on, says Larby. She believes the state budget sends out a signal that women’s health is still being de-prioritised. – Many good words, little action – The national budget primarily contains many good words related to women’s health, but little direct action. We had expected both more visibility and greater investment in women’s health. That’s what Malin Stensønes, general secretary of the Norwegian Women’s Sanitary Association, says. She highlights two points she believes are particularly important when it comes to women’s health. Malin Stensønes, secretary general of the Norwegian Women’s Sanitary Association, is not impressed by the investment in women’s health research in the state budget. Photo: Petter Sommer / news One is research, which she believes is the basis for the long-term safeguarding of women’s health. – There we wanted a bigger pot for the Research Council, a separate women’s health program and fresh funds. In order to also prioritize those diseases for which almost no research is carried out today – and unfortunately there are many to deal with. The second is the treatment offer, with a focus on what she says are under-prioritised women’s diseases. – We wanted a national competence, diagnosis and treatment center for both severe endometriosis and adenomyosis. In addition to vulva disorders. Unfortunately, we see no trace of it directly in the budget. – These are not diseases that affect the few, these are diseases that affect the many, and where the treatment capacity today is too low. Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap). Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB Lovnader On 8 March 2019, the Solberg government launched six points for better women’s health. After that, current Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol came out and said that it was not good enough. – You have to put money on the table, you have to prioritize knowledge and you have to bet in a completely different way, than coming up with non-binding points on 8 March, when Norwegian women march against the government. On 2 April this year, Kjerkol also told news that she promised that: – This government will strengthen our efforts aimed at women’s health. But neither the Norwegian Women’s Sanitation Association, the Endometriosis Association nor Tine Elise Leonhardsen Tuven feel that women’s health is sufficiently prioritized in the proposal for the state budget. Photo: Bent Lindsetmo / news Did she feel heard Leonhardsen Tuven from Smøla was involved in the Labor Party at county level in the past. At a county council meeting a few years ago, she gave a talk on women’s health. She claims that Ingvild Kjerkol was also there, and was very proud of her speech. – She came over and was very engaged in the topic. I felt I was heard. But it doesn’t look like she has the same commitment now, as she had for the case then, says Leonhardsen Tuven.
ttn-69
Feels that women’s health and endometriosis are being de-prioritized – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
