International Gynaecological Awareness Day celebrated
10 September annually
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Click on image above to download your IGAD Kit.
What is the International Gynaecological Awareness Day – IGAD?
The International Gynaecological Awareness Day (IGAD) was founded by Kath Mazzella OAM in 2001.
Meeting with Senator Amanda Vanstone, Kath asked how she could get women’s health on the calendar. Amanda informed Kath that if she wanted an awareness day, then she just needed to ‘declare it’. And so she did.
Celebrated annually, the day is an opportunity to raise awareness of Women’s Gynaecological/Sexual and associated Mental Health issues. It is an opportunity to start conversations between the community and medical professionals; between men and women; and to give voice to the millions of women who suffer in silence every day because of Gynaecological, Sexual or Mental Health challenges.
An opportunity to break down the barriers and stigmas associated with this area of women’s health is needed. To rid us of the taboos and need for silence on this subject is required.
Who can participate?
The International Gynaecological Awareness Day is open for people of all ages, races, cultures and belief systems. It is for medical professionals, community people, not-for-profit groups, government agencies and corporates.
Why do we need an Awareness Day?
Every day women suffer, often feeling as though they can’t share what is going on because of embarrassment or fear of rejection. This sometimes causes a woman to not seek early intervention, or even worse, to contemplate ending their own life, leading to a preventable death.
Further, the cost to the community is quite high when you consider that most women will experience one or more complications during their lifetime. There are the costs of medications, doctors visits, hospital stays, surgery…and the list goes on.
But what if…
What if we could help these women to know that they are not alone, that as a community we have listening ears, arms and hands willing to provide support and information that could help save their life or make it more comfortable? What if we could minimise the harm through education, sharing and caring?
It costs billions of dollars currently to treat these conditions. Imagine if we were able to reduce the occurrence of them?
So many women feel shame when the truth is they cannot help what is happening in their bodies. As a community, we have the power to normalise Gynaecology and free them from this.
How can I get involved?
- We are actively seeking CHANGE MAKERS, people who are willing to lead others to create social change.
If you are one of these, we would like you to host an event in your corner of the world. Download our easy to follow guide now to see how you can do this. - We are actively seeking INDIVIDUALS, who will decorate a pair of cardboard undies and then find a shop window, reception area or office fridge to put up the Undies and encourage conversations to start about women’s Gynaecology, Sexual and Mental Health.
If you are one of these, purchase your undies pack from our store now.