Can I get something off my chest, because I'm really annoyed at the state of women's healthcare in this country (Ireland).. particularly after my experience today. I hope this is the right thread.
I went to my smear test today. The Irish cervical cancer screening programme has been embroiled with scandal in the past few years as 206 women had developed cervical cancer after having a misdiagnosed CervicalCheck smear test. The misdiagnosis occurred due to our health service outsourcing the reading of the slides to the lowest bleeping bidder, a dodgy network of laboratories in the USA which we were told would be phased out in light of the scandal, with all future testing would be conducted in Ireland (in 2018). Well, today I was told that all samples are being sent to the US because the Irish hospital labs are 'too busy'. I'm now wondering what is the point in doing my smear test, if it's only going to be sent to the US and read incorrectly. All that discomfort for nothing.
Bare in mind this is the same country that:
- Preformed an outdated procedure, symphysiotomies, in place of c-sections up until 1990 because of some Catholic bull. For those who don't know, the procedure involves slicing and sawing through the cartilage and ligaments of the pelvis to widen the birth canal. It is a horrific procedure that caused brutal and life changing injuries.
- Infected pregnant women during the 1980s with hep-c and HIV via Anti-D injections as the blood used to create the Anti-D injection was bought and shipped to Ireland, via the US.. the US blood they brought in was taken from American prisoners/drug addicts
In all of the cases above, the government refused to accept liability or pay compensation to victims until the last 2010s. Now, what do all of these scandals (and subsequent cover-ups) have in common? Is the fact the lying, the gaslighting, the lack of accountability. Well, yes. But the biggest common denominator here is that these are all issues that affected women. If these were scandals that affected men, there would be huge inquiries, pressure on government to issue apologies and compensation immediately. But nope. It affects women, so no-one gives a tit because in the healthcare system - we're just an afterthought.