Austria puts women’s health back on agenda

Date: 20/04/06

It is nearly ten years since the European Commission produced a report on the state of women's health in the European Union, but now Austria, the current holder of the EU presidency, aims to bring things up to date.

Six primary health concerns for women will feature on the agenda of the informal meeting of health ministers, being held next week in Vienna (25-26 April): cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, osteoporosis, endometriosis, breast cancer and depression.

The Austrian presidency has declared its intention to use the informal meeting to motivate the Commission to produce an up-to-date report on women's health that includes all 25 member states, which the European Parliament also only recently requested.

Cardiovascular diseases account for 55% of all deaths, Austria's ministry for women and health says in notes prepared for the meeting. Fatalities have declined in western Europe, but in Hungary and the Czech Republic deaths are increasing. Women are at a disadvantage when it comes to diagnosis of the disease.

"Cardiologists react very differently to physical symptoms of women and men and display a tendency to discount the complaints of women and to evaluate them as being psychosomatic," says the ministry paper.

Cancer threatens European women in increasing numbers. In the last overview, presented in 1997, cancer was the leading cause of death for women aged 35-64, particularly breast and cervical cancers. Screening remains the leading defence against cancer.

The delivery of health services and healthcare are mostly the responsibility of national administrations, but the EU did in 2003 agree on recommendations to improve screening for cancer. It was intended to cut the incidence, inter alia, of breast cancer by 25% but only 12 of the 25 EU states have extensive screening programmes, according to the Austrian government.

Lung cancer is also under scrutiny. Rates in women are increasing as the number of female smokers increases. Women tend to be more sensitive than men to exposure to the same level of carcinogens, according to the Austrian presidency.

"There is hardly any other tumour that is as difficult to treat, but theoretically as easy to prevent as the bronchial carcinoma is," says the ministry. EU health ministers may recommend actions to tighten regulations on tobacco and possible bans.

EU health ministers will also give attention to lesser known conditions, endometriosis and osteoporosis.

Endometriosis is a potentially painful and traumatic condition, affecting growths of tissue in the abdominal cavity or on the ovaries. About 10% of women of child-bearing age have the disease and approximately one-third of those are infertile.

Osteoporosis is a reduction in bone density and often leads to bone fractures. It is linked to decreased oestrogen levels following menopause. Women are three times more likely to be affected by the condition.

Finally, the health ministers will discuss gender-specific responses to depression. Women are two to three times more likely than men to be affected by the disease, the ministry note states.

The conclusions of the informal meeting are to be presented to the formal meeting of health ministers on 2 June.

Author takes a look at the issue of women's health which was made a priority issue by the Austrian Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2006. Six primary health concerns for women were to feature on the agenda of an informal meeting of EU Health Ministers, to be held next in Vienna on 25-26 April 2006: cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, osteoporosis, endometriosis, breast cancer and depression.
Article is part of European Voice Special Report, 'The EU and women'.

• Primary Source

Austrian: Presidency Website: Policy Areas: Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs: Health http://www.eu2006.at/en/Policy_Areas/Employment_Social_Policy_Health_and_Consumer_Affairs/Health.html

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