Girls just wanna have fun-damental rights: Women are chronically underrepresented and under-researched in medicine, which often leads to misdiagnosis and dismissal when they seek medical treatment. Given this gender data gap, how can the EU ensure its female population (51%) receives effective treatment?
Submitted by: Shriya Balaji, Max Bonnet, Leia Gilceava, Kiki Gielen, Lusan Haan, Julian Jongbloed, Femke Kappe, María Cuder (Chairperson, ES).
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY
The European Youth Parliament,
- Concerned by by the frequent misdiagnosis when women seek medical treatment in comparison to men,
- Noting with regret the lack of research in relation to the women bodies as a consequence of using the male bodies in order for these studies as a way to “simplify them”,
- Bearing in mind that women are underrepresented in higher academic roles,
- Aware that women are sometimes given the wrong drug dosage as a consequence of setting the male body as a standard,
- Fully alarmed by the fact that female health issues are sometimes not given enough importance because of the stigmatisation of women as “complaining”,
- Acknowledging the fact that women often receive their medical diagnoses later than men;
- Urges the World Health Organisation (WHO) to support additional research opportunities on issues specific to female bodies;
- Requests the EU Cohesion Fund not fund organisations which are not inclusive in the research of medications and their side effects;
- Invites the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) to keep promoting co-education and a diverse workplace in the medical field to diminish bias in the sector;
- Instructs the Member States to include female specific illnesses and influential women in the medical field in school curricula;
- Calls upon the Member States to actively promote career opportunities for skilled female medical professional
- Directs the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to mandate retrials of medication whose initial trial sample did not contain a balanced sex ratio;
- Appeals to the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) to focus on combatting stereotypes as part of interpersonal skills in medical trainin
- Asks the Member States to start an organisation for handling anonymous reports on sexism in the medical field;
- Petitions the Member States to help make studies and articles on sexism in medicine more relevant and accessible