One step closer to an EU women's health strategy

New blueprint for a future strategy formally presented at an event in the European Parliament

Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash

A coalition of health organisations, policymakers and advocates has launched a detailed blueprint calling for a future EU women’s health strategy, marking the latest step in efforts to push women’s health higher up the European policy agenda.

The document, Towards an EU Strategy for Women’s Health, was formally presented at an event in the European Parliament, bringing together Members of the European Parliament, representatives from the World Health Organization, national women’s health leads and civil society organisations.

While the EU does not currently have an official women’s health strategy, speakers described the launch as part of a broader attempt to move from fragmented initiatives towards more coordinated action at European level.

A coalition-led blueprint

The report has been developed by the European Institute of Women’s Health (EIWH) in collaboration with more than 50 expert organisations. It sets out priority areas, policy recommendations and principles intended to inform the development of a future, formal EU women’s health strategy.

It does not carry legal or budgetary force, and it is not a European Commission strategy. Instead, its authors describe it as a contribution designed to shape future EU policymaking, including Commission communications, Council conclusions and national strategies.

While healthcare delivery remains a national responsibility, many of the drivers of women’s health — from research funding to regulation and digital markets — sit at EU level. An EU strategy is intended to align and support national action, rather than replace it, and importantly to address gaps that individual countries cannot tackle alone.

Presenting the document, EIWH director general Peggy Maguire said women’s health had too often been treated as a specialist concern rather than a cross-cutting policy issue.

“Women’s health has often been framed as a specialist issue,” she said. “But in reality, it sits at the heart of equality, resilience, and Europe’s future competitiveness.”

She added that existing health systems and policies still failed to reflect the ways women experience health across the life course.

“The gap between need and policy is no longer acceptable,” she said.

Life course, data and delivery

The blueprint calls for a life-course and intersectional approach to women’s health, covering sexual and reproductive health, cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental and neurological health, chronic conditions, fertility, menopause and healthy ageing.

A recurring theme during the session was the lack of sex- and gender-sensitive data in research and healthcare, and the consequences this has for diagnosis, treatment and outcomes. Speakers pointed to the historic underrepresentation of women in clinical trials and the continued failure to treat sex as a biological variable in research.

Digital health and artificial intelligence were also raised as areas of concern. Several speakers warned that new technologies risk reinforcing existing gender bias if women are not adequately represented in data sets, governance and design.

“The information in the digital world is only as good as the information that’s put into it,” Maguire said, warning that innovation could widen inequalities if these issues are not addressed.

From strategy to implementation

Beyond the content of the report itself, discussion focused on how such a strategy might be implemented if taken forward at EU level.

Speakers outlined the idea of a partnership model to support coordination, implementation and monitoring across EU institutions and Member States. The aim, they said, would be to move beyond statements of intent towards measurable outcomes.

“This is a delivery mechanism, not a talking shop,” Maguire said.

The model would seek to align EU-level action with national women’s health strategies already in place in countries such as Ireland and Austria, while supporting collaboration in Member States where similar work is emerging.

Global context and urgency

Representatives from WHO Europe said the initiative comes at a time when progress on women’s health remains uneven and vulnerable to political and economic pressures.

Melanie Hyde, speaking on behalf of WHO Europe, noted that women continue to spend a greater proportion of their lives in poor health and face persistent barriers linked to gender bias in research, healthcare delivery and policy.

She also highlighted violence against women as a continuing public health emergency in the region, with wide-ranging effects on mental and physical health.

What happens next

Supporters of the blueprint are now looking to the European Commission and Member States to respond. Possible next steps discussed during the event included a Commission communication on women’s health, Council conclusions, and alignment with future EU funding frameworks, including the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

As Maguire concluded, the focus now needs to shift from agreement to action.

“The question is no longer whether women’s health deserves coordinated EU action,” she said. “It is how quickly we are willing to act on it.”