FIPRA’s Senior Advisor Heike Galbraith sat down with Peggy Maguire, Executive Director of the European Institute of Women’s Health, to discuss where women’s health policy is heading in Europe. And why now is the moment for bold, coordinated EU action.
Despite decades of progress, women in the EU continue to face a fragmented, male-default healthcare system. “Health systems across the EU have not been designed with women’s unique health needs in mind,” Maguire explains. “A dedicated EU strategy on women’s health is not just overdue—it’s essential.”
- Underrepresentation of women in clinical trials
- Lack of sex- and gender-disaggregated data
- Uneven access to reproductive healthcare across Member States
- Risks of women being left behind in the digital health revolution
“Medicines are safer if research is done in a more diverse group,” Maguire noted. “We need robust, disaggregated data and guidelines to ensure women are meaningfully included in clinical trials.”
These points echoed strongly in a high-level event this May, "Closing the Gap in Women’s Health Research", organised by the MEPs for Women’s Health Interestgroup in in collaboration with the European Policy Centre and the European Institute of Health, and co-hosted by MEPs Sirpa Pietäinen, Romana Jerkovic and Tilly Metz. Experts and MEPs, including alsoBilly Kelleher discussed the systemic neglect of women in research and called for urgent policy change. As one speaker put it: "Research is not a technical tool—it’s political action."
The cost of inaction is staggering—nearly €1 trillion annually in lost productivity and health costs. As Maguire stressed, “Closing the women’s health gap isn’t just a matter of rights—it’s a €1 trillion opportunity.”
The EIWH envisions a bold, comprehensive EU Women’s Health Strategy including:
- Equal access to reproductive care
- Inclusive digital health innovation
- Gender-sensitive medical education
- Support for menopause and chronic illness in the workplace
- Intersectional policies to ensure no woman is left behind
“We need to move from patchwork to policy—joined-up, funded, enforceable policy that places women’s health where it belongs: at the centre of EU health strategy.”
The path is clear. The evidence is compelling. The time is now. As the EU begins shaping its next Gender Equality and Health Strategies, will it meet the moment?
Heike Galbraith is a FIPRA Senior Advisor with over 20 years of experience in healthcare policy. She is an especially passionate advocate for women's health equity, effectively raising the voices of women to share about their specific and pressing healthcare needs with policymakers.
