Council conclusions on women's health
Date: 2006-06-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: health policy, public health, woman

C 146/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

22.6.2006

Council conclusions on women's health

(2006/C 146/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

1. NOTES that the citizens of the European Union, more
than half of them being women, attach great importance
to the highest possible levels of human health and consider
it to be an essential prerequisite to a high quality of life.

2. RECALLS THAT:

6. STRESSES the importance of raising awareness amongst
the general public but also health care professionals that
gender is a key determinant of health.

7. RECOGNISES the importance of addressing inequalities
that may exist within and between Member States, by tack-
ling social and economic health determinants.

— Article 3(2) of the EC Treaty and Article 23 of the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
state that equality between women and men shall be
ensured in all policy areas;

— Article 152 of the EC Treaty states that a high level of
human health protection shall be ensured in the defini-
tion and implementation of all Community policies
and activities, and provides that Community action is
to complement national policies and be directed
towards improving public health, preventing human
illness and diseases, and obviating sources of danger to
human health;

— On 4 December 1997, the Council adopted a Resolu-
tion concerning the report (1)on the state of women's
health in the European Community (2);

— On 9 March 1997, the European Parliament adopted a
Resolution on the report of the Commission on the
state of women's health in the European Com-
munity (3);

— On 28 April 2005, the European Parliament adopted a
Resolution on modernising social protection and devel-
oping good quality healthcare, calling on the Commis-
sion to submit a new report on the health situation of
women in the European Union (4).

3. RECALLS the report on the progress made within the
European Union as regards the implementation of
the
Beijing Platform for Action established in January 2005 by
the Luxembourg Presidency that underlined that women's
health is still an area of concern and stressed the impor-
tance of the collection of relevant data.

8. WELCOMES

the

Commission

Communication: A
Roadmap for equality between women and men (2006-
2010) (5) recognising the gender dimension in health, inter
alia, aiming at strengthening gender mainstreaming in
health policies.

9. NOTES that the Programme of Community Action in the
Field of Public Health (2003-2008) (6) aims to protect
human health and improve public health, thereby contri-
buting towards tackling inequalities in health.

10. WELCOMES the fact that the proposal for a Council Deci-
sion concerning the Specific Programme ‘Cooperation’
implementing the 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013)
of the European Community for research, technological
development and demonstration activities (7)
intends to
integrate gender aspects in health research.

11. ACKNOWLEDGES the need for gender-related biomedical
research as well as research on socio-economic determi-
nants.

12. RECOGNISES that although women live longer than men,
they suffer a greater burden of unhealthy life years. The
incidence and prevalence of certain diseases like osteo-
porosis are higher in women. Others such as cardiovas-
cular disease, cancer and mental health problems affect
men and women differently. Some diseases related to birth
and reproductive organs like endometriosis and cervical
cancer affect women exclusively.

4. RECALLS the Strategic Action Plan for the Health of
the WHO meeting in

Women in Europe endorsed at
Copenhagen, on 5-7 February 2001.

13. EMPHASISES that cardiovascular disease is a major cause
of death and of reduced quality of life for women in the
European Union, despite still being perceived as predomi-
nantly male disease in some Member States.

5. ACKNOWLEDGES that social and health determinants,
clinical manifestations, therapeutical approaches, effective-
ness and side effects of treatment of disease and disorders
may differ between women and men.

(1) Doc. 8537/97; COM(97) 224 final
(2) OJ C 394 of 30.12.1997, p 1.
(3) OJ C 175 of 21.6.1999, p 68.
(4) A6-0085/2005

14. NOTES WITH CONCERN that the rise in smoking among
females in some Member States is causing a substantially
increased risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

(5) OJ Doc. 7034/06; COM(2006) 92 final
(6) OJ L 271 of 9.10.2002, p. 1.
(7) Doc. 12736/05

22.6.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 146/5

15. NOTES WITH CONCERN that depression is predicted in
some Member States to be the major burden of disease for
women by 2020. Mental
ill health has an impact on
quality of life and can therefore influence morbidity and
mortality.

16. RECOGNISES the major impact of unhealthy lifestyles on a
significant number of diseases and therefore the potential
inter alia healthy diets and
which the promotion of
physical activity has for reducing cardiovascular diseases
and certain forms of cancer.

17. AGREES that gender sensitive prevention measures, health
promotion and treatment contribute towards reducing
morbidity and mortality from major diseases among
women and consequently improve their quality of life.

18. NOTES that reliable, compatible, comparable data on the
status of women's health is essential to improve informa-
tion to the public and develop appropriate strategies, poli-
cies and actions to ensure a high level of health protection,
and that gender-specific data and reporting are essential
for policy making.

19. UNDERLINES that after almost a decade a new report on
the health status of women in the enlarged European
Union is needed.

20. INVITES the Member States to:

— Collect gender-specific data on health, and to break

down and analyse statistics by gender;

— Take initiatives to enhance general and health profes-
sionals' knowledge on the relationship between gender
and health;

— Promote health and prevent disease taking into account

where appropriate gender difference;

— Promote research into the different effects of medicines
specific health

on women and men, and gender-
research;

— Encourage gender mainstreaming in healthcare;

— Examine and tackle health inequalities which may exist
accordingly in order to reduce the health gap and
ensure equality of treatment and access to care.

21. INVITES the European Commission to:

— Integrate gender aspects in health research;

— Support the exchange of information and experience
on good practice in gender-sensitive health promotion
and prevention;

— Assist Member States in developing effective strategies
to reduce health inequalities with a gender dimension;

— Promote and strengthen the comparability and compat-
ibility of gender-specific information on health across
Member States and at Community level through the
development of appropriate data;

— Present a second report on the state of women's health

in the European Union.

22. INVITES the European Commission to draw on the exper-
tise of EUROSTAT and of the future European Institute for
Gender Equality in order to contribute to data collection
and analysis and the sharing of best practice.

23. INVITES the European Commission to continue to coop-
erate with the relevant international and intergovernmental
organisations, in particular the WHO and OECD, to ensure
effective coordination of activities.