Ghanaian Advocate Christiana Hansen Fights Endometriosis Stigma

Christiana Hansen, a women's health advocate, has lived with persistent pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, and exhaustion for nearly a decade without knowing the cause. Her symptoms gradually disrupted her life, affecting her career, relationships, and emotional wellbeing. After nine to 10 years of uncertainty, she was diagnosed with endometriosis, adenomyosis, uterine fibroids, and hydrosalpinx. These conditions have presented significant challenges to her health and daily life.

Hansen's experience has inspired her to challenge the silence, stigma, and misunderstanding surrounding menstrual and reproductive health conditions. Her message is simple: no woman or girl should have to spend nearly a decade suffering before being heard, believed, and diagnosed. She established HEDUCA Awareness C.I.C., a community initiative that began in 2019 and was formally incorporated in the United Kingdom in 2025.

HEDUCA focuses on raising awareness, educating, and advocating for women and girls affected by reproductive and menstrual health conditions. Hansen collaborates with healthcare professionals, community organizations, and public health partners to promote accurate reproductive health information. Her advocacy was shaped by the loneliness of living with persistent pain and struggling to obtain answers.

Hansen's advocacy work has extended to Ghana, where she brought HEDUCA's educational campaign to schools, churches, and media organizations in the Greater Accra Region. The engagements provide participating girls with education on menstrual health, reproductive health conditions, and personal hygiene. She hopes to encourage more open conversations about reproductive health conditions that are often misunderstood or discussed in hushed tones.

In addition to menstrual and reproductive health, Hansen's advocacy also includes breast health awareness. She encourages both women and men to take breast health seriously and seek medical advice when they notice unusual changes. Hansen disclosed that three of her friends in the United Kingdom had died from breast cancer, strengthening her conviction about the importance of awareness and timely medical attention.

Hansen acknowledged the support of medical professionals, colleagues, community partners, and individuals who have encouraged her throughout her health journey and advocacy work. She hopes to develop stronger partnerships with healthcare professionals and institutions in Ghana to improve awareness, access to appropriate care, and support for women living with endometriosis and other reproductive health conditions.

Hansen's advocacy remains deeply personal, driven by her experience of spending nearly a decade searching for answers to symptoms that affected almost every part of her life. Through HEDUCA, she hopes to reinforce a message that should guide conversations about women's reproductive health: persistent pain deserves attention, women deserve to be heard, and symptoms should be properly investigated by qualified health professionals.

Key points

• Christiana Hansen's advocacy work focuses on raising awareness and promoting education on reproductive health conditions, particularly endometriosis, adenomyosis, uterine fibroids, and hydrosalpinx.
• Hansen's organization, HEDUCA Awareness C.I.C., has extended its educational campaign to Ghana, providing education on menstrual health, reproductive health conditions, and personal hygiene to girls in schools and communities.
• Hansen's advocacy work also includes breast health awareness, encouraging both women and men to take breast health seriously and seek medical advice when they notice unusual changes.