Thank you so much, Chair.
I would really like to thank all of the witnesses who are here today. You've really brought your expertise. I really appreciate all of the knowledge you have.
I want to read just a quick quote for you. I think that after speaking to you we can see that there's absolutely some disconnect here, because we could do more.
As noted in Policy Options:
Canada is known by advocates around the globe for having some of the worst endometriosis care in the developed world, a situation made worse by gatekeeping at the family medicine and generalist OBGYN levels, a stubborn lack of expertise on how to treat this complex illness, and some of the longest specialist wait times on record.
I think you've touched on many of these things.
I'll start off with you, Dr. Jolly.
Thank you. For 50 years of working on this, you deserve a massive pat on the back from every woman who has ever gone through this. Thank you so much.
I heard from McGill, though—and I want to switch around to all of you—that one in 10 women, from what I understand, has endometriosis. When do the first signs start to appear? Is it at the time of the first menstruation that they would be finding that something might be bad?
I'll move into these questions.
Elaine, can you share that with me? When does endometriosis start? When would people start thinking that there's something different with their period or that it's abnormal?