Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There are many health issues neglected in this country and society in general, including that of mental health, but I was absolutely shocked reading the accounts and emails of many women following the briefing organised by Deputy Gino Kenny. There is a pattern in the attitude to women's health. I refer to the view that there is nobility in suffering. The long-suffering woman is a very strong motif in our history and religion but it is not acceptable that people living with chronic, debilitating pain would be dismissed by their doctors, that it takes several years to get a diagnosis and that they would be sent abroad for their healthcare. This is something many women said would not happen after the repeal of the eighth amendment but it is still happening and 155,000 women are suffering from endometriosis. Many go to Britain, or even Romania, for treatment. Let us be absolutely clear that we are dealing with a gender bias in medicine. The type of medical misogyny we saw with cervical cancer

is repeated with endometriosis. We need to establish a centre of excellence to diagnose women at very early stage and not dismiss them as just having period pain. Then they should get the treatment they need at a very early stage. I ask the Minister of State to do this.

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