Endometriosis PPEP talk program to target Year 9 and 10 students

When Leah Burgan was a teenager she missed weeks of school because of a disease no one understood. A new program aimed at students may stop that happening to more young girls.

When Leah Burgan was a teenager she missed weeks of school because of a disease no one understood.

Now students will be able to learn about the painful condition endometriosis in a bid to save the next generation from years of pain and frustration.

From the start of next term, Year 9 and 10 students at 80 public and private schools will take part in the Periods, Pain and Endometriosis — or PPEP — Talk program.

Endometriosis is a gynaecological disease which affects one in 10 women and can cause pain, nausea, fatigue, organ damage and infertility.

Authorities hope that increasing awareness among young people will help them avoid the average nine year wait for a diagnosis.

Leah Burgan, 32, of Flagstaff Hill, has severe endometriosis. Picture: Dean Martin

Delays often occur because symptoms are mistaken for digestive complaints or downplayed as “normal” period pain.

Developed by educator Libby Parker and pelvic pain expert Dr Susan Evans, the course aims to inform girls about when to seek medical advice for their pain.

Ms Burgan was diagnosed around age 15. The 32-year-old recently gave birth to twins after repeated surgeries and five rounds of IVF.

“I couldn’t go to school (when it was bad). I ended up in hospital,” she said.

“So many girls out there think that it’s normal to wake up in crippling pain every day that they have their period.”

The state and federal governments have committed $140,000 each to deliver PPEP Talk in Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Mount Gambier schools.

Sessions will begin from April 29.

They are targeted at young women but male students will be able to attend to learn techniques such as mindfulness to manage pain.

Ms Parker said the “fun, informative and accurate” program was written in line with the Australian curriculum and would “empower young people”.

Education Minister John Gardner said endometriosis had been “a silent cause of misery for too many women for too long” and he hoped the program would encourage more young women to seek medical help.