For endometriosis awareness month, Lunchtime Live host Andrea Gilligan and guests look at the state of endometriosis care in Ireland.

Endometriosis care in Ireland has come a long way but remains one of the Department of Health's ongoing challenges as more women are diagnosed every year.

Endometriosis affects one in ten women and is caused when tissue, similar to the lining of the uterus, grows on the outside of the uterus.

An estimated one in 10 women are affected by it and one of the most common symptoms is severe period pain.

“Endometriosis research and care is moving in the right direction, but at a snail's pace”, Chair of Endometriosis Ireland Damian Donoghue told Lunchtime Live. 

“There's a lot of unknowns”, he added. 

“We're dealing with it in the first instance as a menstrual condition and it's much more than that as well, as we're well aware.

“Volunteers are doing fantastic work to raise awareness but we’re also asking the question where it is from the government's perspective in the Department of Health. 

“That’s the obvious next step that’s missing.”

He explained that when endometriosis care in Ireland was first addressed in the Dáil, many were unable to say the name of the condition “endometriosis.”

“How are we going to raise awareness when you can’t even say the word?”, he told Newstalk. 

He said that despite the intense activity from advocacy groups, there was still a need to send patients away because it was not being properly addressed by the Department of Health. 

“There has been an appreciation that the patient needs to be at the centre of this to get the feedback.

“We are hearing on a daily basis that patients are going to consultants and they're not able to access that care. 

“There's confusion in terms of accessing funding, where to go. Accessing that has been tremendously difficult for people from a financial point of view, and also just getting the doctors to sign off on it.”

Deputy Medical Director at Beacon Care Facility, Dr Bart Kuczera told Lunchtime Live that the problem was accumulating for patients. 

“The prevalence of endometriosis is very, very high in fertility patients that I'm seeing mostly is one in three, compared to one in 10 women in the general population”, he said. 

“It accumulates in our specialty but the positive thing is there are task forces assigned in hospitals just to deal with this problem which includes pain management, including surgical management and medical.”

He added that endometriosis is still an underdiagnosed problem but that patients are becoming increasingly younger. 

“It is quite unlikely to have endometriosis in teenagers, although we've seen that. It happens that we have 21, 22-year-old women being diagnosed formally with endometriosis, which is a new thing”. 

Endo Ireland will be hosting an Endo Con on March 28th at the Talbot Hotel Stillorgan.