Oldham health expert urges women not to 'play dice' with their treatment
Date published: 25 October 2022
Pictured (left to right) at the CHAI event are: Nadia Shafarat, Manir Akhtar, Yasmin Toor, Dr Anita Sharma, Najima Khalid and Zena Sheikh
Britain’s health inequalities have grown so acute that women are flying overseas for cut-price treatment, rather than endure painful three-year waits for routine operations in the UK.
That is the message local GP Dr Anita Sharma heard at an open forum for predominantly South Asian women in Oldham recently.
And while the female health expert did not decry the standard of healthcare in developing countries, she expressed great concern that patients were “playing dice with their health and also leaving families back in Britain motherless for months, potentially.”
Said Dr Sharma: “Do I blame a woman for travelling to another country to have a hysterectomy rather than go through relentless bleeding and pain? No.
"Do I worry about her doing so? Absolutely.
"The quality of care, particularly in rural areas of some countries is nowhere near the standard of most NHS hospitals.
"Also, what if something goes wrong and you become dangerously ill?
"I personally believe that a lot of private healthcare is motivated by money rather than the patient, and what appears to be your initial bill for treatment could grow and grow.”
Drastic underinvestment in healthcare prior to and following Covid was blamed by Dr Sharma for what she called, “unacceptable delays in appointment times and treatment.”
But she also stated that a lack of concern about women’s health in general, had spurned “desperate action from patients.”
She continued: “Let us look at a condition such as the menopause.
"It can cause horrendous physical and mental health effects and yet some men – including employers and even male doctors – assume it is just a natural part of ageing.
"Women from the South Asian community are often told to “get on with it” and dissuaded from ever discussing gynaecological problems, which are seen as taboo.”
Women attending the event, organised by the CHAI Charity, confirmed Dr Sharma’s beliefs, claiming they only had older friends to talk to when facing an issue such as endometriosis.
So concerned was Dr Sharma about this condition – which affects one-in-ten women of childbearing age – that she formed her own charity, Endometriosis Awareness North, last year.
“Endometriosis, which has the ability to cripple and is so relentless it takes away women’s chances of a career, takes seven to ten years to diagnose” she added.
“That is because little or no resource has been ploughed into solving it and even medics are blissfully unaware of how to spot the symptoms.
"This is typical of the malaise we are fighting.
"Yes, the lion’s share of the blame for health inequalities lies with decision-makers but we all have a duty to do more and protect our mothers, sisters, wives and partners from pain, and the spectre of having to seek inappropriate treatment, abroad.”
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