Despite their significant impact, women's health issues—such as fibroids, endometriosis, and menopause—remain under-recognized. Initiatives like MenoPause and Endometriose Groot Amsterdam aim to change this by improving diagnosis, treatment, and breaking taboos, ensuring that "women finally receive the care they deserve."
Judith Huirne, Professor of Benign Gynecology at Amsterdam UMC, has been a driving force behind this movement. Two years ago, after French President Macron allocated 30 million euros for better endometriosis care, Huirne challenged the Dutch Minister of Health to follow suit. Her open letter emphasized the need to address women's health issues head-on. "Every woman will face a female-specific condition in her lifetime. For some, it's just a minor inconvenience, but for many, it leads to infertility, career setbacks, or a disrupted social life. How can something so common, yet impactful, receive so little attention?"
This letter sparked a turning point, with substantial funding now allocated to develop a national knowledge agenda for women's health. This initiative focuses on raising awareness, applying existing knowledge more effectively, and researching targeted treatments that address the underlying causes of these conditions.
Leading the Charge
Huirne's leadership at Amsterdam UMC since 2007 has built a foundation of providing highly specialized care for women with gynecological issues that are not addressed elsewhere. "We focus on offering a 'last-resort' service, providing advanced clinical care for complex conditions," she explains. "Our goal is also to improve overall gynecological care through research and education. For example, we developed the Menstruation App, which helps young girls track menstrual issues and seek help earlier if symptoms go beyond the norm."
Huirne and her team are also working on research that aims to tackle the root causes of conditions like endometriosis and adenomyosis, rather than just managing symptoms. "We're studying how early-stage endometriosis and adenomyosis develop, and we’ve discovered that inhibiting angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels, could prevent the progression of these conditions." This groundbreaking research could lead to the development of new treatments and earlier interventions.
Innovating Endometriosis Care
Velja Mijatovic, Professor of Gynecology and Head of the Endometriosis Center at Amsterdam UMC, is another key figure in advancing care for women with endometriosis. Together with Flevoziekenhuis, they established Endometriose Groot Amsterdam to provide specialized care for women with this complex condition. "Endometriosis is a serious, impactful disease, and it’s time to address it properly,” says Mijatovic.
The partnership between Amsterdam UMC and Flevoziekenhuis ensures that women with mild to moderate endometriosis receive timely treatment, while more complex cases are referred to Amsterdam UMC for specialized care. The Endometriosis Center functions as a "last-resort" center, bringing together experts in gynecology, radiology, urology, pain management, and more to perform multidisciplinary surgeries and advanced treatments. "We need to move away from the mindset that endometriosis is something women just have to live with,” Mijatovic stresses. “Healthcare has been too focused on the male body as the norm. It's time to take women's health seriously and provide the right care."
Innovative Treatments and Virtual Reality
The collaboration also focuses on developing cutting-edge treatments. One area of research is neuromodulation, which uses spinal cord stimulation to alleviate severe, chronic pain. "Early results are promising," Mijatovic notes. Additionally, Virtual Reality (VR) is being explored as a tool for pain education, helping patients manage their pain better and improve daily functioning.
By working closely with other hospitals and general practitioners in the region, Mijatovic hopes to raise awareness, shorten waiting times, and ensure that women get the right care faster. "This collaborative approach has the potential to reduce suffering and improve outcomes for women with endometriosis."
These initiatives at Amsterdam UMC are just a glimpse of the growing movement to put women's health in the spotlight—ultimately leading to better diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for women.
This article is featured in Janus Magazine. Read the full article in Dutch here.