Endometriosis: Nordica Walks to Raise Awareness

Martins Ifijeh

As part of efforts to raise more informed interest on Endometriosis, Nordica Fertility Centre, over the weekend, organised a five Kilometer walk tagged: “#PressforProgress in the awareness and treatment of Endometriosis”.
The walk which started from City Mall, Lagos to Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island, had thousands of participants including organisations like Diamond Bank Plc.

According to experts, lack of awareness on the condition has affected the management, diagnosis and treatment of Endometriosis, hence the need for more Nigerians, including medical personnel to be abreast with the public health issue and how to manage it.

Speaking, the Founder, Endometriosis Support Group Nigeria (ESGN), Dr. Abayomi Ajayi identified lack of knowledge as one of the major challenges facing management of endometriosis In the country..

He said: “People say government support hospitals, but I don’t know if that is the way out. If you say they should set up centres for Endometriosis, which should be on the long run, how long will that take, what about those that already has it, what is the support we have for them?

“For anybody to be trained to do Laparoscopic Surgery, you need about two years learning course and where are you going to get that from on less you go abroad and that is expensive.”

He said that was why this year they brought people from Germany . “One of them is in-charge of the training school in Tubingen University. We did this so that Nigerian Doctors could get a training here, as the same as they will get in Germany. But definitely we are making progress. We need more people to partner with us on this,” he noted.

He said individuals cannot prevent endometriosis because people are born that way. “For the symptoms, the first thing is pain. It could occur during menstrual periods, during sexual intercourse, or during passage of urine or faeces. What happens is that you have pieces of Endometrial tissue in places they are not meant to be and it depends on where it is that is what will course the symptoms.”

On her part, the Head, Corporate Communications, Diamond Bank, Mrs Chioma Afe, said the walk became necessary in order to raise awareness for the condition.

“Endometriosis is a widespread uncomfortable disease affecting tens of thousands of girls and women in Nigeria and a sweeping lack of awareness by both sufferers and health care providers delay diagnosis. This lack of awareness is often due to a normalization of symptoms and it was to this end that Diamond Bank took to the streets.”