Lines swapped on surgical mesh
A surgical mesh crisis is ‘‘not being taken seriously’’ by the Government, which has all but reneged on a promise to establish a register for the controversial product, advocates say.
And political roles on the issue appear to have reversed, with the National Party doing an aboutface to promise it would not only establish a register to record every use of surgical mesh, but it would do so retrospectively to capture past procedures as well.
The National announcement has been welcomed by advocacy group Mesh Down Under, which said the Government had promised big when it was in Opposition but its response since had been disappointing.
Surgical mesh is a commonlyused product to treat a number of gynaecological issues like pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, as well as some hernias. However, its use has left some women with debilitating and chronic pain – in some cases unable to sit or walk, or have intercourse, comfortably. Some countries have suspended its use.
Sufferers have been campaigning for years for tightly regulated and recorded use of mesh.
The-then National Government made no moves to establish a national register, however it did begin some work to review its use. A number of enhanced safety measures have already been introduced, across both governments. Most recently, the Ministry of Health has required all hospitals to guarantee their surgeons have specialist credentials to perform trans-vaginal mesh procedures; work to provide patients with better information is under way; and 13 district health boards have suspended certain surgeries involving mesh. Medsafe has also banned some brands of mesh.
But one of the Mesh Down Under founders, Charlotte Korte, said a major problem was the lack of specialist expertise in New Zealand to remove the product.
More qualified surgeons were coming onstream, performing more surgeries, but there was no training for removal, which meant the issue would only get worse. Government engagement had become a ‘‘box-ticking exercise’’ and Associate Health Minister James Shaw had not met with advocates outside of highlypopulated roundtable meetings.
National’s associate spokeswoman for health, Maggie Barry, accepted her party was reluctant to move while in Government.
But she said research developments in the past eight months showed urgent action was needed. ‘‘The health minister and the prime minister were both strident in their calls for a surgical mesh register when in Opposition. However, more than a year after going into Government they have made no decisions and have instead released a series of meaningless recommendations.’’
Not only were they ‘‘timid’’, she said, they were not sent out to private hospitals which carried out a significant proportion of the procedures. Barry said Greens Acting Associate Health Minister James Shaw was refusing to meet with Mesh Down Under.
Shaw has held the role while Julie Anne Genter is on maternity leave. But he said Genter had met with Mesh Down Under twice since the election.
‘‘My office has emailed the group approximately 30 times in response to issues and queries.’’
The Ministry of Health was also in close and regular contact with them, he said.
And setting up a national register was not so simple.
‘‘Establishing a national register will take five years of operation until the benefits begin to be seen. At current rates of usage for surgical mesh, the cost is estimated at $15 million over 10 years. During this time, it is clear regulatory action will see the usage of mesh decline significantly.’’ A national registry remained ‘‘under consideration’’.