Urgent Government action needed to improve education for young people and healthcare practitioners
Launch of Endometriosis Action Month (March 2025)
Only 50% of young adults in the UK know what endometriosis is, and many health practitioners including GPs and A&E doctors don’t recognise the symptoms, resulting in missed opportunities to stop suffering and the disease progressing, as well as wasting NHS resources.
This is despite it being one of the most common gynaecological conditions, affecting 1 in 10 women and those assigned female at birth from puberty to menopause in the UK – although the impact may be felt for life.
The shocking lack of awareness and education is leaving those with the condition facing an average of almost 9 years for a diagnosis, leading to loss of education and work productivity, often impacting both physical and mental health.
Endometriosis UK is kicking off Action Month (1-31 March 2025) – Endometriosis Explained, by calling on Governments across the UK to commit to ensuring menstrual wellbeing education is implemented in all schools as well as improving education for all healthcare practitioners, including GPs, pharmacists, nurses and A&E doctors. Without this education, those with the disease will continue to face challenges in accessing the right care at the right time.
Emma Cox, CEO for Endometriosis UK says: “The simple fact is that not enough people know what endometriosis is. Such a common and often debilitating disease deserves the same level of recognition as conditions like diabetes and asthma.
“A recent poll for Endometriosis UK has found that only 50% of 16 – 24-year-olds know what the condition is and 47% of people surveyed last year reported seeing a GP 10 or more times before being diagnosed.
“Not getting a diagnosis can have a significantly negative effect on every aspect of someone’s life – including education, employment, and physical as well as mental health. Governments must ensure that all young people and healthcare practitioners receive the appropriate level of education and recognise the signs and symptoms of endometriosis, so those with symptoms can seek help, and are supported to access care when they do.
“We hope Governments across the UK will build on their commitments to support women’s health, including ensuring menstrual health education is being properly delivered across all schools, as well as improvements in mandatory training for all health professionals, as a matter of priority.
“Without this, the next generation of those with endometriosis will continue to be let down.”
Endometriosis UK – the UK’s leading charity offering support for those with endometriosis is calling on all UK Governments to:
- ensure that menstrual health education is being delivered as a compulsory part of the curriculum in all schools, and that teachers have the training and resources they need to deliver it confidently and age appropriately. Too many young people are leaving school not knowing what is and isn’t normal for an average period, nor the signs of a menstrual health condition such as endometriosis. This is leading to young people missing school and education and impacting on the start of their careers.
- ensure that every healthcare practitioner receives effective education on menstrual health conditions including endometriosis, so that every healthcare practitioner recognises the signs and symptoms of endometriosis and follows the NICE Guideline on Endometriosis that sets a baseline of how endometriosis should be diagnosed, managed and treated.
Endometriosis UK wants to see a future where women and those assigned female at birth can better recognise the signs of endometriosis and feel empowered to seek help. And when they seek that help, healthcare practitioners are better equipped to put them on the right pathway for treatment and support in accordance with the NICE guidelines.
A survey for Endometriosis UK last year found that 78% of respondents who later went on to receive a diagnosis had experienced one or more doctor telling them they were making a ‘fuss about nothing’ or similar comments.
Not everyone with the disease will experience severe symptoms, but for those who do, it is hard enough living with endometriosis, juggling the symptoms during daily life, let alone having to battle for understanding and support.
The continued lack of awareness around the condition is really a national scandal and now is the time to make the change and better educate the public and healthcare practitioners about endometriosis.