We’re pleased to share our final submission to Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health on Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Women’s Health Strategy.
Our submission calls for Manatū Hauora to follow international best practice and acknowledge the significant health and wellbeing burden endometriosis has by specifically including endometriosis in the Women’s Health Strategy.
Our submission also calls for a national action plan for endometriosis to be developed like has been done in Australia. This will provide a clear blueprint to tackle endometriosis through education and awareness, clinical management and care, and research.
Endometriosis New Zealand would like to sincerely thank everyone in our community who sent in a personal submission, as well as New Zealand’s two other endometriosis charities, Insight Endometriosis and Endo Warriors Aotearoa, who also supported our submission.
We believe we’ve put our best foot forward to improve the lives of those affected by endometriosis and we look forward to seeing how Manatū Hauora incorporates our collective voice into the Strategy.
Improve the lives of those with endometriosis by helping to shape Aotearoa’s first Women’s* Health Strategy.
The Strategy, which is being developed by Manatū Hauora, Ministry of Health, will set the direction and priorities for improving women’s health and wellbeing.
As the national organisation for endometriosis, we will be making a submission and advocating strongly to improve the lives of those with endometriosis and their whānau. It’s important the Ministry also hears directly from those living with or impacted by endometriosis.
To help make it easier for you to submit on the Strategy we have created a template submission form. You can either download a copy of this form, fill it out and email or post it to the Ministry or you can complete the form online below.
Endometriosis NZ does not collect or store any of this information and the online form is submitted directly to the Ministry. Information on how the Ministry uses the information you provide is outlined below and here.
You can also share your ideas on the Ministry’s online discussion place or you can send a personal submission via email to strategies@health.govt.nz or post to:
Women’s Health Strategy
Manatū Hauora – Ministry of Health
133 Molesworth Street
Thorndon 6012
Wellington
Submissions close on 17 March 2023.
*The Women’s Health Strategy will be inclusive of gender diverse people (including intersex people, transgender people, non-binary people, and takatāpui and MVPFAFF+ gender diverse people) who experience the health issues considered in this strategy. This includes all those who identify as women and those assigned female at birth.
If you provide contact details, the Ministry may contact you to:
• hear more about the information you have provided in your submission
• ask for your agreement to use words from your submission in the Strategy and related documents.
If you do not want to be contacted by the Ministry, please say this in your submission.
Requests under the Official Information Act
Please note a summary of your submission may be published by the Ministry of Health. Most often this happens when it issues a document that reviews the submissions received.
Any submission you make becomes public information. Anyone can ask for copies of all submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the information available, unless we have a good reason for withholding it. You can find those grounds in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
Reasons might include, it’s commercially sensitive or it’s personal information. However, any decision the Ministry makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may require the information be released. This may include personal details such as names and emails.