Periods Awareness Should Be Part Of School Curriculum

Hyderabad: “ More than 25 million women in India and 200 million Worldwide are estimated to be suffering from endometriosis and it has emerged as a leading cause of infertility among women. Endometriosis affects 1 in every 10 women. Endometriosis causes infertility in 30-50% of women and Women aged above 35 years are at greater risk of infertility as well as miscarriage. There is an urgent need to include period awareness as part of School curriculum” opined experts during the screening of globally acclaimed documentary on Endometriosis - BELOW THE BELT

Endometriosis Foundation of India for the first time is screening a globally acclaimed film “BELOW THE BELT” in India in Hyderabad. The event was hosted by the Endometriosis Foundation of India, in partnership with Apollo Hospitals, to bring expert care and medical support for thousands of women suffering from the condition.

The screening was followed by an expert panel discussion which was moderated by Dr Vimee Bindra Founder Endometriosis Foundation of India. Eminent members in the panel among others include Smt Vani Prasad Principal Secretary to Government and Director-general EPTRI;  Smt Karuna Gopal Founder Futuristic Cities; Smt Usha Reddy Educationist; Smt Manjulatha Kalanidi Founder Rice Bucket Challenge and journalist; Ms Shannon Cohn Director Below The Belt; Ms Heather Guidone Director. The event also saw the participation of several Patient Advocates who came forward to share their experiences and battle with the chronic condition. These advocates included Vensy Krishna, Dr Shilpa Rao, Medha Kohli, Garima Mahajan, and Sarvani Parruchuri.

BELOW THE BELT is a moving and captivating documentary that follows a diverse selection of women with endometriosis as they navigate their diagnosis within their individual circumstances and ages – including personal symptoms, impact on their relationships, and navigating their everyday lives. The film brings a much needed personal and relatable perspective to a disease that affects so many women around the world, but that still lacks key awareness and education.

The film is directed by Shannon Cohn and exposes widespread problems in our healthcare systems through the lens of four patients urgently searching for answers to mysterious symptoms. From societal taboos and gender bias to misinformed doctors and profit-driven healthcare, the film reveals how millions of people with endometriosis are effectively silenced.

"We are honored to work alongside these incredible teams to amplify the stories and give a voice to millions with endometriosis," Ms Shannon Cohn Director Below The Belt said. "When we asked each Executive Producers to collaborate, they were enthusiastic and supportive. They know well that it's past time that endometriosis gets the attention it deserves."

"We made these films (Below the Belt and the educational film Endo What?) to try to change the course of the disease for the 200 million people worldwide that it affects," added Ms Shannon Cohn. "To give people with endometriosis guidance and validation in the face of stigma, biases, and misinformation. The films are tools to bridge the gap between patient experience and physician knowledge and bring endometriosis into mainstream discussion."

Participating the discussion Smt Vani Prasad Principal Secretary to Government and Director-general EPTRI said “We all can relate to this movie and issues raised and discussed around endometriosis.  Presently treatment and availability of experts is an issue. Though we are Proud of our tertiary care needs to do much more to cover women and rural population who are at disadvantage in India. Our State and central governments are doing extensive health outreach programs especially manifested during Covid times. Our Asha workers are doing yeoman service in data collection and disease detection which helps policy makers in drafting effective health programs”

Smt Karuna Gopal Founder Futuristic Cities, BJP National In-charge – Women Policies & Research said “We need a unified voice from all stakeholders and Indian parliamentarians to highlight and create awareness about endometriosis. A study on Economic cost to the nation needs to be done to build a strong case for endometriosis to make necessary policies that benefit all. We need to build centers of excellence with multi-disciplinary experts”

Smt Manjulatha Kalanidi Founder Rice Bucket Challenge and journalist said “We need to build a human face to issues to make them easily understandable and to create more awareness”

Dr Vimee Bindra Founder Endometriosis foundation of India in her remarks said 
 “One of the many goals of this documentary is to help push for an early diagnosis and early treatment. Helping achieve this is the creation of a medical school curriculum. Endometriosis is a chronic medical condition in which endometrial tissue grows outside of the uterus in areas such as the pelvis, abdomen, bladder, diaphragm, and even the brain. This disorder is as prevalent as diabetes and can be found in one out of every ten women. Endometriosis has a vast range of presentations, symptoms, and severities, and can cause pain, infertility, and other serious health issues that can drastically affect an individual’s quality of life. However, endometriosis remains an overlooked condition in both traditional and social media, with the average diagnosis time remaining at 7 years even in the modern day”.

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