Funding for research into, and treatment of, endometriosis

7.2.2018

Question for written answer P-000750-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Damiano Zoffoli (S&D)

Endometriosis is an incurable disease affecting about 1 in 10 women — 15 million women in the EU. It is an illness which frequently leads to infertility and causes high levels of pain, thus making it incapacitating for various aspects of work and private and social life.

On 14 February 2017, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on promoting gender equality in mental health and clinical research (2016/2096(INI)), which deals with the unequal access of women and men to resources. The report specifically mentions endometriosis as an example of discrimination in research into women’s diseases.

The report therefore calls for more funding for research into the causes of endometriosis and possible treatments for it, and calls on Member States to recognise endometriosis as an incapacitating illness.

On 31 August 2017 the Commission replied that it had funded and was continuing to fund many research projects on women’s diseases through the Horizon 2020 programme.

1. How many of these projects — and which ones — involve research into the causes of endometriosis and possible treatments for it, and how much funding has been allocated for this purpose?

2. Does the Commission consider that it should ask the Member States’ health authorities to recognise endometriosis as an incapacitating illness?