Join us for the Million Women March
for Endometriosis
March 13, 2014, in Washington, D.C.,
London, Berlin, and Beyond…
Facebook membership from all over the world – over 7.056 members
Dear Friends,
We would like to invite you to join the Million Women March for Endometriosis©, an internationally-coordinated awareness campaign that will occur worldwide on Thursday, March 13, 2014, in dozens of international capitals, including Amsterdam, Belfast, Berlin, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Kingston, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Oslo, Reykjavik, Rome, Stockholm, Valleta, and Washington, D.C., just to name a few. With an estimated 176 million women and girls throughout the world still living lives awash in anguish because of this devastating disorder, we believe that an internationally coordinated campaign is absolutely necessary to effect the changes that are needed to overturn the status quo.
When
This unprecedented worldwide peaceful demonstration to raise awareness about endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids and other related chronic pelvic pain disorders in women, is scheduled for:
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Where
These synchronized peaceful demonstrations will take place on the exact same day in dozens of country capitals.
USA LOCATION – WASHINGTON, D.C.
In the USA, the event will take place in Washington, D.C. For those within the United States, please be sure to get in contact with your local Precinct Manager if you would like to become involved or just would like more details about the event, including how to register to attend.
OTHER WORLDWIDE LOCATIONS
Internationally-coordinated awareness campaigns will occur worldwide in dozens of international capitals, including Amsterdam, Belfast, Berlin, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Kingston, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Oslo, Reykjavik, Rome, Stockholm, Valleta, and Washington, D.C., just to name a few. Please be sure to get in contact with your country’s Country Captain if you would like to become involved or just would like more details about your country’s event, including how to register to attend.
Honoring Endometriosis Advocates and Organizations
During these worldwide events, we will also be honoring a few of the most influential endometriosis advocates and organizations of our time, whose establishment of endometriosis support groups throughout the world has made the idea of holding an internationally coordinated demonstration even possible. We also welcome your nominations of those endometriosis organizations or advocates who’ve made a difference in your life.
The Goals of the Million Women March For Endometriosis
Empower
• To unite women and their supporters to take a stand against endometriosis
Educate
• To raise awareness about endometriosis and its effects on women and girls
• 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 implement health screenings for endometriosis among girls and young women in public schools
• To work with our government and congress to allocate funding for endometriosis
In addition to the broad goal of simply raising awareness, we will be seeking change in the following four (4) sectors:
1) Government-funded Health Organizations
We believe that it’s crucial to work with four U.S. governmental institutes in particular – The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The Snoring Mouthpiece Report, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the office of the Surgeon General – to effect the broad changes that are needed to overturn the status quo. Regarding the NIH, for example, we believe it’s imperative that the separate group which is dedicated exclusively to Endometriosis, Fibroids, and Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women be made much more visible to the public. Diabetes and other conditions have their own NIH-funded national television and print awareness campaigns; we believe the millions of women and girls suffering from endometriosis deserve the same.
2) Department of Education, Health Screening in Public Schools
We will be asking that the Department of Education help us launch nationwide health screening in public schools to screen for endometriosis and other chronic pelvic pain conditions that afflict girls. Public schools already screen for a variety of health conditions, such as scoliosis and hearing and vision impairments; we believe girls with endometriosis and related conditions, who are especially susceptible to misdiagnosis, deserve the same.
3) Medical and Nursing School Educational Institutes
Even after numerous visits to their pediatricians, primary care physicians, gynecologists, school nurses, and emergency room practitioners, millions of women and girls with endometriosis, fibroids, and chronic pelvic pain are still going undiagnosed for several years or are receiving grossly inadequate care. This is truly unconscionable and constitutes a national health crisis. Our nation’s medical and nursing schools must do a better job of educating future physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Therefore, we will be asking change at these public and private institutions. We will also be asking medical researchers to help us find cures and develop noninvasive tests for disorders that have been devastating millions of lives for thousands of years.
4) Media coverage, public education campaigns
And, finally, we are holding this worldwide mass demonstration to raise awareness in the media and in our local communities. Media coverage about endometriosis, for example, is woefully inadequate. There have been many hour-long specials about obesity and diabetes featured on CNN, or on the cover of Time Magazine. However, we are still waiting for the same consideration to be given to the millions of women and girls who have had their lives torn apart by one of the most painful and crippling disorders ever catalogued in the history of humankind. We will also be reaching out to private foundations to consider supporting researchers so that a cure can be found and noninvasive screening tests can be developed.
How you can become involved
1) Help Spread the Word – We would be honored to have you join the campaign in any way that works for you, even if it’s just a post about the event details on your Facebook/Twitter/Blog.
2) USA-based residents: Become a Precinct Manager – We are recruiting for volunteers who would like to be a Precinct Manager – that is, volunteers who would like to be in charge of outreach efforts for their particular neighborhood/city/school/university. For more details about how to become a Precinct Manager, please contact the event coordinator at [email protected].
3) USA-based Companies or Organizations: Become an Affiliate Partner – Opportunities for collaborative partnerships with USA-based companies or organizations are available. To learn more about how to become an Affiliate Partner, please contact us directly at [email protected].
4) International residents: Volunteer to be an International Affiliate Partner – We are recruiting for volunteers who would like to be an International Affiliate Partner. For more details about how to become an International Affiliate Partner, please contact us at [email protected].
5) USA or International residents: Become an Associate Volunteer or Committee Member – For those who can only spare a little time for volunteering, there are still plenty of ways to contribute in a meaningful way. Join one of the committees, share your story with the documentary filmmaker who’ll be on board, or contribute poetry or other artistic works that will be featured at the demonstration and later published in book form. These are just some of the creative ways that could help the world understand how endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, or other chronic pelvic pain conditions have affected your life. For more details about how to become an Associate Volunteer, Committee Member, or contribute in other ways, please contact your local Precinct Manager if you are in the USA, or for those outside of the U.S., please contact your Country Captain.
6) USA-based residents: Attend the event in Washington, D.C. – Although we know it’s very difficult for those with chronic illnesses to travel, not to mention the burden of travel expenses, nevertheless we are asking everyone in the U.S. to try to attend the event in Washington, D.C., and to bring as many friends and family as possible. Group travel discounts, chartered buses, and other travel support will be available. For more information about joining a travel group, travel support options, and other event details, please contact your local Precinct Manager so that you can begin coordinating travel plans, creating carpools, and sharing information.
7) International residents: Attend the event in your country capital – An awareness campaign will also occur in dozens of other country capitals on the same date of Thursday, March 13, 2014. For more information about your country’s event location, travel groups, and other event details, please contact your Country Captain so that you can begin collaborating with your country’s volunteer teams.
Contact us if you’d like more information
Please feel free to email us at [email protected], if you would like more details.
Thank you
We are really looking forward to hopefully working with you and seeing you in Washington, D.C., and around the world, so that, together, we can fight for meaningful change.
In the meantime, thank you again for considering joining this important cause. There is no doubt in my mind that endometriosis represents a global health crisis for women and girls, one that calls for an internationally-coordinated campaign to serve as a much-needed wake-up call to the world. Clearly, something has to change; something must be done to end this worldwide, centuries-long saga of institutional inertia. 4000 years is long enough; the time has come to end the empire of endometriosis.
With very best wishes,
Dr. Camran Nezhat
Dr. Farr Nezhat
Dr. Ceana Nezhat
Dr. Azzie Nezhat
Sponsors, Million Women March for Endometriosis ©
and
ASRM – American Society for Reproductive Medicine
Co-Sponsor, Million Women March for Endometriosis ©
Watch Out World
Here We Come
176 Million Strong
Rising Up As One
