Mirjam Kaijer left Hoogwoud for The Hague this afternoon, together with 50 other women. This is to hand over a petition to Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health). With this they want to draw attention to more research into the female body and the unexplained complaints that many women have to deal with.
Former nurse Mirjam Kaijer, who herself walked from doctor to doctor for 10 years with unexplained health problems, was shocked by the ‘no man’s land’ she ended up in. Her complaints were dismissed by doctors as ‘it is part of the menopause’ and ‘fibromyalgia’. After finally getting a proper diagnosis, she set out to investigate on her own.
Because it was only after years of searching that Miriam discovered a benign tumor on her parathyroid gland. In 2020 she underwent surgery in the United States, after which she remained virtually symptom-free.
Two years later, Kaijer decides to set up a foundation that bundles the stories of women with unexplained health problems. Her foundation, Voices for Women, is committed to raising awareness about this issue and to supporting women who suffer from it.
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Her research shows that no less than 80 percent of patients with unexplained health problems are women. “Gender-specific care appears to be a long way off in the Netherlands, compared to countries such as Canada and the United States. This is worrying because the female body gets sick differently than that of the man and too little knowledge causes many victims,” says Kaijer.
Kaijer also started a petition, intended for the House of Representatives, for more research into the female body. It has now been signed more than 41,000 times, enough to travel to political The Hague.
And she didn’t do that alone: Kaijer took 50 women to The Hague. Mayor Gerard van den Hengel (Opmeer) came to wave goodbye to the group before departure and put a heart to the belt. “They will give a face to the often harrowing stories that have arisen because the system fails and complaints are too often dismissed as psychological.”