Endometriosis policy and delivery systems: a comprehensive global scoping review

Gibbons, Tatjana and Evans, Devon and Skidmore, Becky and Becker, Christian M and Missmer, Stacey A and Giudice, Linda C and Adamson, G David and Zondervan, Krina T and Abbott, Jason and Abrao, Mauricio and Bush, Deborah and Canis, Michel and Cox, Emma and Dyer, Silke and Farquhar, Cindy and Flores, Idhaliz and Gajbhiye, Rahul and Guo, Sun-wei and Gupta, Jhumka and Harada, Tasuku and Horne, Andrew and Hummelshoj, Lone and Johnson, Neil and Kihara, Anne and Kvaskoff, Marina and Maggiore, Umberto Leone Roberti and Nap, Annemiek and Njagi, Joseph N and O'Hara, Beck and Oral, Engin and Salamon, Adrienn and Tomassetti, Carla and Weckesser, Annalise and Zegers-Hochschild, Fernando and Zhang, Jian (2025) Endometriosis policy and delivery systems: a comprehensive global scoping review. The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health, 1 (3). e232-e244. ISSN 3050-5038

Text Gibbons_et_al_2025_Endometriosis_policy_and.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 6 May 2026. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (423kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Despite the prevalence and socioeconomic impact of endometriosis, it is under-represented in global health policy. To our knowledge, this scoping review is the first to comprehensively map the availability of global endometriosis policies. The 477 included documents identified three frameworks and one approach used by countries to develop and operationalise endometriosis policies and initiatives: (1) stand-alone endometriosis national action plans (NAPs); (2) integration of endometriosis policy and initiatives into other health NAPs; (3) stand-alone endometriosis laws; and (4) ad-hoc initiatives. A thematic analysis enabled the aggregation of global endometriosis policies and initiatives within the WHO health system building blocks. Further analysis revealed the maturity of countries’ policy development. No information could be detected for 98 countries. However, 48 countries were raising awareness of endometriosis as a national problem, 36 countries had placed endometriosis on the political agenda, eight were adopting policies for a national endometriosis strategy, and four were implementing and evaluating strategies. Despite the global scarcity of endometriosis policy framework documents, this Review highlights promising examples, most notably Australia's and France's endometriosis NAP, which could be adapted by countries seeking to advance their endometriosis policies.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.lanogw.2025.100027
Dates:	Date Event 2 June 2025 Accepted 5 November 2025 Published Online
Subjects:	CAH03 - biological and sport sciences > CAH03-01 - biosciences > CAH03-01-02 - biology (non-specific)
Divisions:	Life and Health Sciences > Life and Sports Sciences
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	01 Dec 2025 15:40
Last Modified:	02 Dec 2025 09:37
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16746

Actions (login required)

View Item