10
Jul
2025
Watch
Endometriosis: Europe’s wake-up call on the gender health gap (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, one in ten women in Europe lives with endometriosis. One woman in ten suffers from chronic disabling pain that hinders her daily life, her work, her mental health. Endometriosis is responsible for 40% of infertility cases, yet it takes an average of seven years to get a diagnosis. Seven years of hearing that ‘it’s normal’, seven years of coping with suffering and silence. No, this is not ‘normal’! Imagine that this pathology affects men, that every month they feel pain equivalent to that of a birth without epidurals. We would have had a great European plan, huge sums of money would have been invested ... But the 10% of Europeans concerned did not have this chance. Although, thanks to patient associations, progress has been made, the future does not look brighter. Indeed, the European Commission is considering easing the control of endocrine disruptors, which are present in our everyday products and alter women’s hormonal systems. Endometriosis is an indicator of our flaws in real equality between women and men. I ask the European Commission to speak out in favour of a European strategy to combat endometriosis. Commissioner, imagine that Europe is helping to find a cure for endometriosis. Imagine that it prevents it from happening. Imagine that we guarantee professional inclusion for patients, that we actually take care of the care: we would change the lives of European women and those of future generations!