The backdrop is that there are longstanding, broad and systemic problems with the medical system, the limitations of medical knowledge, the training of people who will work in the profession, priorities and the allocation of resources, etc. And in this country the favouring of the 'guesswork, pick the most likely and convenient explanation first then only reconsider if the situation is not resolved, moving on to the next most likely diagnosis and repeat this cycle until you finally get to the bottom of it or the patient goes away' approach, instead of favouring proper diagnostics testing at all times. The first months of the pandemic showed up very sharply the shit attitudes towards formal diagnostics testing and actually bothering to properly resource that part of the system, but this was just a dramatic example of a much wider phenomenon.
And of course the grotesque failures of this sort of approach then get combined with all the ways that our society and its systems treat women, brush aside their concerns etc, etc. We have at least reached a point where people are not willing to put up with this in silence any more, where individual/per institution examples of failure will be highlighted and deemed unacceptable on a fairly regular basis. We might hope that the current awareness and unrest about these things may force great change upon the system and attitudes, but its sadly far from clear how much lasting success there will be on this front, whether things can be brought to a head, how to take this struggle to the next level. Various specific medical scandals and then the pandemic brought some stuff into sharp focus for a time, but the 'return to normality' pandemic agenda has since been used as a suppressive force, a chance to look away from issues that require much effort to solve. A chance to return to the old 'comfort zone' that was actually anything but comfortable for all the people who have been ignored, dismissed and marginalised, and invited to believe that it has always been that way, will always be that way, and that its their problem and not the manifestation of crap systems, attitudes and priorities.
There are plenty of examples of the disproportionate burden women have been forced to deal with in the pandemic, and the absolutely pathetic approach to proper diagnostics in regards long Covid looks like it will be a vivid and long lasting example of this in this country. One that our media is generally disinterested in shouting about as a top priority.
