Mesh danger fear sparks action call
MAGHULL’S Labour councillor, June Burns, is calling for a suspension of the use of vaginal mesh and a full investigation into the treatment’s debilitating effects on women.
The Mayor of Maghull took action after hearing from dozens of women about the horrors of the mesh which is used to treat incontinence and prolapse.
Her actions support the national campaign, Sling the Mesh.
Cllr Burns put forward a motion at a recent Sefton Council meeting asking it to write to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt requesting a two-year suspension of use of the treatment and a review of the data on its side effects.
Many Sefton women who have suffered ill-effects from the treatment were in the public gallery to see the motion passed unanimously.
Cllr Burns said: “Patients are told that it’s a simple, quick procedure which will take about 20 minutes and they will be able to leave hospital later in the day.
“However, cases of severe complications after the operation are now emerging as women start to talk more openly about this usually taboo subject.
“Some women have spoken about how quickly their symptoms began and others have been affected years later.
“There are women who have walked into an operating theatre perfectly fit and healthy and come out as physical wrecks, some needing a wheelchair or sticks to walk; others facing a lifetime of pain and the prospect of losing their jobs and homes; and others have lost their marriages due to chronic pain while having sex.
“Most women aren’t informed of these risks and even when they experience them they’re not taken seriously. Women’s health in general is not taken seriously even now in the 21st century.”
Cllr Burns and mesh victim Julie Gilsenan recently visited Parliament to raise the issue of vaginal mesh sideeffects and met with Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson and journalist Kath Sansom, who began the Sling the Mesh campaign for women in England after having the treatment herself and suffering debilitating side effects.
In Scotland a suspension of the treatment is already in place.
Cllr Burns’s motion stated: “We call on Sefton Council to write to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, and request a suspension of at least two years on the use of vaginal mesh implants until a full investigation into the long-term effects has been concluded.
“If, after a full investigation has taken place, women are still to be encouraged to have this operation, they should be fully informed of the risks associated with this operation, so they can make an informed choice and women who do choose to have vaginal mesh implants in the future are tracked for life, in order to collate accurate data on the long-term effects.”