The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the prevention of age-related diseases of women.
Although women have a longer life expectancy at birth than men (82.4 years for women as opposed to 76.4 years for men), Parliament notes that the gap in healthy life expectancy is narrower being 61.7 years for men and 62.6 years for women. They have therefore need of sufficient access to health care and home help to enable them to enjoy equal rights and live independent lives.
Parliament notes that women often choose flexible home-based, part-time, temporary or atypical employment, thereby compromising their career advancement, with major consequences in terms of their pension contributions, making them particularly vulnerable to situations of insecurity and poverty. Concrete and effective measures, such as the adoption of the Directive on equal treatment, are called for with a view to combating the multiple forms of discrimination faced by older women.
To favour active ageing in good health, Parliament recommends:
Members call for the publication of an assessment of the impact of the economic and financial crisis on elderly women, focusing on access to preventive health care and treatment. They note that public spending on health accounts for 7.8 % of EU GDP and that, because of population ageing, expenditure on long- and short-term assistance is predicted to rise by 3 % by 2060. They call upon the Member States to strike a fine balance between implementing drastic measures to fight the financial and economic crisis and providing sufficient and adequate funding for health and social care. They also call on the Commission and the Member States to fully recognise the gender dimension in health as an essential part in EU health policies and national health policies.
Age-related illnesses: Parliament points out that many disorders are often underestimated where women are concerned, for example, heart diseases which are considered to be a male problem (whereas cardiovascular diseases kill more than two million people a year in the Member States, accounting for 42 % of all deaths in the EU and are the cause of 45 % of deaths among women compared with 38 % among men). Measures aimed at raising awareness among women of the risk factors involved in cardiovascular diseases are required.
Parliament also mentions the problem of increased alcohol consumption among older women in Europe, and the rising number of female smokers. It calls on the Member States and the Commission to adopt programmes to discourage smoking, aimed especially at young women (the WHO estimates that the percentage of female smokers in Europe will increase from the present 12 % to roughly 20 % by 2025). The Commission should also encourage initiatives to improve information on the risks associated with smoking and drinking and on the benefits of a proper diet and sufficient exercise, these being ways to prevent obesity, high blood pressure, and the related complications.
Other awareness programmes should be initiated in order to better inform the public about diseases of the bones and joints and Alzheimer’s disease which affects about 1 person in 20 over 65, 1 in 5 over 80 and 1 in 3 over 90. A holistic and gender-sensitive approach to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias is called for.
Parliament also calls on the Commission to prepare:
Access to health services: Parliament calls on the Member States to support the initiatives needed to help older women access medical and health services, including women living far from larger centres and in areas difficult to access. It calls on the Member States to further develop eHealth services and gender-sensitive ambient-assisted living solutions in order to promote independent living at home, to make health services more efficient and accessible for older women who are isolated and to establish a 24-hour telephone advice network.
In particular, Parliament calls for:
Research and prevention: Parliament notes with concern EU research results published in April 2011 showing that some 28% of women aged 60 years or older have been mistreated in the last 12 months. It takes the view that priority must be given to the protection of the elderly from abuse, mistreatment, neglect and exploitation, whether intentional and deliberate or resulting from carelessness. It calls on the Member States to strengthen their actions to prevent elder abuse at home and in institutions.
In regard to research, they call for the development, in the context of Horizon 2020, of a strategic plan of research into health care for women over the next decade and the creation of a women's health research institute to ensure implementation thereof.
In respect of prevention, Members call on the Council, the Commission and the Member States, each at their own level, to:
Members also call on the Commission to:
Parliament supports the European innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing as a pilot initiative seeking to achieve a two-year increase in expectancy of life in good health for EU citizens by 2020 and resolves to achieve three objectives for Europe in terms of improving standards of health and quality of life for the elderly and the sustainability and effectiveness of care arrangements.
Regretting the fact that 97 % of health budgets is earmarked for the treatment of non-communicable diseases and only 3 % for investment in prevention, Member States are called on to increase their health budget to include prevention activities. They are also invited to: