Women and girls make up more than half of our population. And yet, their health is somehow seen as a ‘niche issue’.
For millions of women across the country, the unfair reality of getting sick is that they face a long journey just to get a diagnosis – let alone treatment – because they are not always taken seriously or listened to by doctors or other health professionals,
We’ve announced we’ll create 20 women’s health clinics across the state and an Aboriginal-led clinic, but we know there is always more to do to provide women with the best health information, advice and treatment.
That’s why a re-elected Andrews Labor Government will invest $5 million to support the creation of a Women’s Health Research Institute, to help us find new ways to identify and treat diseases such as endometriosis. The new institute will help address the gender gap in medical research, where conditions unique to women don’t get enough funding and women aren’t meaningfully included in clinical trials.
Labor will also invest $64.8 million to double the number of surgeries for endometriosis and associated conditions – that’s around 10,800 extra laparoscopies over the next four years. We know it’s common for women not to be listened to, or told that heavy and painful periods are ‘normal’ or that they will ‘grow out of them’ – and sadly many women can wait years before receiving a diagnosis.
So we’ll invest $3 million to establish an inquiry into women’s pain management – to examine systemic issues and find solutions. The inquiry will be chaired by a panel of experts who will hear directly from women from a range of backgrounds and their experience accessing treatment. And we’ll invest $4 million for research support services, so lessons learned at our new Women’s Health Clinics can be fed into the inquiry and used to improve patient care. We’ll also invest $2 million to establish support groups and mental health programs for women tackling challenging health issues like endometriosis and chronic pain from periods or menopause.
