Endometriosis: Europe’s wake-up call on the gender health gap

Strasbourg (eu24news) – During the latest plenary session in Strasbourg, European Commissioner for Equal Opportunities Hadja Lahbib discussed the gender health gap in general and endometriosis in particular.

Endometriosis has significant social, public health and economic implications. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), endometriosis is a chronic disease affecting roughly 10% (190 million) of reproductive age women and girls globally. The WHO recognizes the importance of endometriosis and its impact on people’s quality of life and overall well-being. WHO also highlights that the access to early diagnosis and effective treatment of endometriosis is important, but is limited in many settings, including in low- and middle-income countries.

Equality EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib stated in plenary “Endometriosis impacts millions of women across the European Union and places a heavy burden on them, affecting fertility as well as survival. This has a major impact on gender equality and female employment. On May 8, the EC adopted a roadmap, one of whose principles is to ensure high levels of physical and mental health for women and girls”. She pointed out that “Social policies and healthcare are a national responsibility, and the European level complements this by sharing knowledge and helping Member States coordinate.” With reference to the limited effective treatment of endometriosis, the EU commissioner said “The European Union has long supported research into new treatments aimed at improving the health of Europeans”.

German far-right MEP Tomasz Froelich, on behalf of the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group, pointed out that “In addition to the individual suffering, endometriosis causes enormous economic damage. Across the EU, sick leave results in losses of approximately €30 billion. It is therefore all the more surprising that so little has been invested in endometriosis research for decades. Brussels – he added – spends only 0.02% of funded projects concern endometriosis: far too little”. He continued “This is simply a misplaced prioritization, misplaced priorities at the expense of real problems facing women, at the expense of health, at the expense of democracy, and at the expense of the economy. A rethink is needed here, truly across all political divides”.

On behalf of EPP Group, Hungarian MEP András Tivadar Kulja, member of the Public Health Committee (SANT), stated that “Endometriosis is a disease that represents a serious weakness in health policy. […] The foundation of a truly family-cantered policy is supporting women’s health. The European Union has a duty to protect affected women and to contribute to early diagnosis and access to treatment, so that those affected, regardless of the Member State in which they live, have equal opportunities in life”. Moreover, on X he tweeted “Let’s make women’s health a core health priority!”

Tilly Metz (Verts/ALE) said in plenary “We face a gender‑health gap that is killing trust, delaying treatment, and violating the rights of women. The pain of women has been underestimated, pathologized and ignored simply because it is felt by women. There is not enough attention for endometriosis. Not enough research funding goes to women’s health research in general. For far too long, research has concentrated on male bodies. We must change that. It is changing already, but not fast enough”. Still she added “We call for investment in research both on diagnosis and treatment, but also on awareness raising about women’s health”.

Concluding her plenary speech EU commissioner Lahbib said “The European Commission’s EU4Health program has allocated €280 million to the initiative for non-communicable diseases, including endometriosis. […] There is still much to be done to understand this disease”, keeping the door open to future EC initiatives in this field.

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