Lagos State Government is making arrangements to establish an endometriosis centre in the state, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi said on Thursday.
Abayomi made the disclosure at the Fourth Annual Endometriosis Awareness Symposium, organised by the EndoSurviors International Foundation, in conjunction with Association of Medical Ultrasound Practitioners of Nigeria (AMUPN), in Lagos.
According to Abayomi, the centre will promote management and awareness of endometriosis, an often painful condition in which a tissue similar to the one that lines the inside of the uterus – endometrium – grows outside the uterus.
The disorder can cause severe pelvic pains and menstrual pains.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the symposium had the theme: ‘The Role of Imaging in Diagnosing Endometriosis’.
Abayomi said that endometriosis was a huge disease burden that affected about 20 per cent of Nigerian women.
The commissioner added that the condition could cause infertility in about 40 per cent of women suffering it.
He said that the major challenge in the management of endometriosis was its diagnosis and treatment.
He said that the management and treatment were often through surgical intervention.
The commissioner regretted that the condition made many women to suffer stigmatisation and depression especially when it resulted in infertility.
According to him, developed countries have modernised and ultrasound/imaging approaches for easy diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis.
He said that the approaches were not readily available in Nigeria.
“We are working to ensure that Nigeria gets these equipment in order to ease diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis and save millions of women the pains associated with the condition.
“To this end, I have discussed with the Medical Director, Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, Dr Femi Omololu, on how to establish an endometriosis department in the hospital.
“The department will be fully equipped with specialised endometriosis practitioners, equipment and all necessary materials to promote diagnosis, treatment and science of endometriosis.
“This will go a long way to promote awareness about the condition, because a lot of women with the condition do not even know, and as a result, are dying in silence.
“The major aim is to boost healthcare service delivery because we want to make Lagos State the medical tourism centre of Africa so that Nigerians in particular will no longer travel to other countries for standardised medical services,” he said.
In a keynote address, Prof. Babatunde Salako, Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), gave the assurance that the institute would assist in carrying out basic researches to enhance management of endometriosis in Nigeria.
“Endometriosis affects a percentage of women in reproductive age. A disease that affects 20 per cent of women is a serious case.
“We must look for a way out, and that is where research comes in and NIMR is ready to take it upon itself,” Salako said.
Also, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr Olajuwon Alabi, said that endometriosis could be difficult to cure but was highly manageable.
Alabi said that surgical intervention, usually by laparoscopy, was the preferred route to its management.
He listed painful menstruation, painful sexual intercourse, inflammation, painful defaecation and infertility as major symptoms of endometriosis.
He, however, said that some patients would show no symptom.
Earlier, the Convener, EndoSuurviors International Foundation, Mrs Olivia Nwankudu, identified lack of awareness as a major challenge to the management of endometriosis in Nigeria.
Nwankudu said that there was the need for increased awareness of the condition so that women living with the condition would be more educated on it.
