ENDOMARCH 2023 - 10th Annual Worldwide EndoMarch (Virtual)

VIRTUAL #ENDOMARCH2023

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WORLDWIDE ENDOMARCH DAY IS SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2023*

Join tens of thousands of Endometriosis Survivors and their families from around the world on Saturday, March 25, 2023, as we unite together for the 10th Annual Worldwide Endometriosis March (EndoMarch) to help fight for Endometriosis Health Care Justice and Equality.

In this year's virtual presentations, we'll be showcasing the incredible advocacy work of Endometriosis organizations and individuals from all over the world, who are fighting for urgently-needed health care policy reforms and updates to standards of care guidelines that reflect patient-identified needs.

We'll also hear from individual #EndoFighters and #EndoAllies, who are speaking out, with the hope that their voices will help drive forward urgently-needed reforms to ensure that equality in healthcare and public health policies becomes a reality instead of remaining just a hashtag.

* Note: Some teams host their EndoMarch events on different dates. Check with your team's hosts for details or email us at info@endomarch.org for assistance.

TAG US ON ENDOMARCH DAY, SATURDAY, MARCH 25

You can help drive change forward by tagging us on EndoMarch Day, Saturday, March 25, 2023, on Instagram at @wwendomarch, TikTok at @worldwide_endomarch, Facebook at @Worldwide EndoMarch, or Twitter at @WWEndoMarch, with your virtual awareness efforts, and we'll do our best to include your messages as part of this year’s outreach efforts to medical schools & elected officials, including to President Biden, all 50+ U.S. State Governors, and Congress (House/Senate). Some of the USA Teams will also be hosting Livestreams on EndoMarch Day, which you would be able to tag & join as well. Stay tuned for additional details on these and other fronts coming soon.

FIND A TEAM / JOIN A TEAM

Stay tuned also for updates about various teams from around the world that may be hosting live EndoMarch events or other programs throughout the month of March, as well as year-round.

HASHTAGS

We are happy to support any hashtags that your own organization has been using to raise awareness about Endometriosis. For the 2022-2023 timeframe, Team USA has been using the following hashtags:

#EndoMarch2023 #Endometriosis #EndoEqualityNow EndEndoInequality #EndoJusticeNow #EndometriosisReformsNow #changetheguidelines #changethecurricula #SeeSayStopEndo #GoYellow4Endo #forwardwego

ABOUT ENDOMETRIOSIS, A WHOLE-BODY CHRONIC DISEASE

#Endometriosis is a chronic, systemic (whole-body) inflammatory disease that can potentially cause incapacitating pain, multi-organ failure, infertility, and other severe and sometimes life-threatening medical consequences if inadequately treated. Described as one of the top ten most painful conditions on record (think childbirth labor pain), Endometriosis is also one of the most potentially destructive chronic diseases, reigning in as a leading cause of hospitalization in women, girls, and gender diverse people, with those afflicted potentially facing a lifetime of repeat surgeries, severe permanent harm from failed treatments, and loss of multiple organs.

Contrary to popular beliefs, Endometriosis is not just a reproductive tract disease, but one which can potentially cause severe organ destruction & symptoms throughout the entire body, such as system-wide crippling pain, severe chronic fatigue, immune & endocrinologic dysfunction, and damage to multiple organs and tissues, including the bowel, bladder, ureters, diaphragm, muscles, musculoskeletal structures, nerves, lungs, and liver. Endometriosis is also associated with an estimated 10% of ovarian cancers, the most deadly gynecologic cancer in the U.S.

Far from being rare, Endometriosis is also very common, with a prevalence on par with diabetes in women, which works out to an estimated 200 million women, girls, and gender diverse people (est. 1 in 8-10) around the world who are affected. A small number of cis men (est. ~24 cases in the literature) have also developed Endometriosis, though the true prevalence is unknown.

DISCRIMINATION AND BARRIERS TO CARE

Serious barriers to adequate care, rooted in discrimination, and a broken health care system have contributed to significantly worse health outcomes for women, girls, and gender diverse people with Endometriosis, including multiple failed surgeries, wrong-organ surgeries, life-threatening kidney failure, life-threatening chronic lung collapse, increased risk of life-threatening cardiovascular disease, increased risk of certain deadly cancers, increased risk of early onset neurodegenerative disease, crippling degenerative bone disease, and loss of many other organs & fertility.

A nationwide shortage of qualified Endometriosis specialists, along with questionable repeat insurance denials for medically necessary care, contribute to this ever-growing crisis.

THE WORLDWIDE ENDOMARCH MISSION

We believe that this campaign is absolutely necessary to achieve the following goals:

Empower

• To unite womxn and their supporters to take a stand against Endometriosis

Educate

• To raise awareness about Endometriosis and its effects on women, girls, and gender diverse people (including an unknown number of cis men)

• To educate and train members of the medical community, in order to promote early detection and improved treatment

Effect Change

• To find a cure for Endometriosis, and to develop non-invasive diagnostic tests

• To improve health screenings for Endometriosis among adolescents in public schools

• To work with our government and congress to allocate funding for Endometriosis

* To ensure that Endometriosis Health Care Justice and Equality is a reality instead of a hashtag

ABOUT THE GLOBAL ENDOMARCH MOVEMENT

Worldwide Endometriosis March (Worldwide EndoMarch) has ignited a global Endometriosis uprising & is leading the fight for urgently-needed Endometriosis Health Care Reforms. Since its founding in 2013, there have been at least 300,000 EndoMarchers from 70+ countries who’ve helped effect major policy changes, pass bills, increase research funding, and dramatically increase worldwide awareness about the plight of millions around the world who’ve been living in the shadows of silence, stigma, & the healthcare sector’s indifference for far too long. As an internationally-coordinated awareness campaign, there are dozens of Founding Members from around the world, with U.S. founders being Dr. Camran Nezhat, Dr. Farr Nezhat, Dr. Ceana Nezhat, Dr. Azadeh Nezhat, and Barbara Page.

ABOUT US / CONTACT US

Worldwide EndoMarch is hosted annually by the Nezhat Family Foundation & Worldwide EndoMarch Volunteers from Team California (IG @wwendomarch), located in Woodside, California. We’d love to be in touch, so DM us on Instagram at @wwendomarch or on TikTok at @worldwide_endomarch, or via email at info@endomarch.org, for more details. Thank you again for your support!

Thanks to our virtual event production team, We & Goliath for their help with this year’s event.