Brussels, 10 March 2025
The purpose of this public consultation is to provide a basis for the forthcoming work of the Committee on Public Health (SANT) on women’s health by listening to experiences, suggestions and opinions.
The anonymous online survey is open for one month and can be filled in by individual citizens as well as interested stakeholders (healthcare organisations, industry, NGOs, etc).
A similar consultation, on rare diseases, was launched on Rare Disease Day (28 February).
Background
Recent findings suggest that women in the EU outlive men, yet often spend more years in poor health due to a significant gender gap in healthcare. Women face multiple challenges that negatively affect their well-being, including delayed diagnoses, pain bias, research disparities and limited access to essential services.
The EU has been integrating gender considerations (gender mainstreaming) into its health policies and working to improve women’s health in Europe through the EU4Health programme (examples of funded projects).
The Commission recently launched its Roadmap for Women’s Rights – it considers improving women’s health standards as one of the key principles for advancing women’s rights and gender equality.
Parliament has long defended gender equality and women’s rights, including in health (notably through resolutions promoting gender equality in mental health and research (2017) and sexual and reproductive health (2021)).