Comisión de Salud Pública

International Women’s Day celebrates women’s achievements while calling for faster progress toward gender equality. Globally, women hold only 64% of the legal rights granted to men, facing disadvantages in areas such as work, income, safety, property, and retirement. At the current pace, closing these legal gaps could take 286 years, highlighting the urgent need for stronger justice systems and meaningful reform.

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. World Obesity Day calls for coordinated global action to tackle the obesity crisis.

Endometriosis Awareness Week highlights endometriosis, a chronic inflammatory condition in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus. Pain is a primary symptom and can significantly impact quality of life.

World Hearing Day raises awareness of the global impact of hearing loss, which affects over 1.5 billion people worldwide including 90 million children and adolescents, across all parts of the world, many with preventable and treatable causes. Around 30% of people over 60 are also affected.

Sleep Awareness Month, aligning with World Sleep Day (on Friday, March 13), highlights the importance of healthy sleep and its impact on global well-being — reminding us that we spend about one‑third of our lives asleep. With roughly 30% of adults facing insomnia and 70 million people battling sleep disorders annually, the stakes are high. Poor sleep is also closely linked to chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

On 2nd of March, in the view of the upcoming World Hearing Day, Members of the SANT committee held an exchange of views with the two experts, Professor Doctor Paul van de Heyning and Doctor Patrick D’Haese, which was followed by the debate.

At the SANT meeting of 2nd of March, Joelle Elvinger, Dean of Chamber I will presented the European Court of Auditors' special report on 'Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan – A wide-ranging plan facing an uncertain future', which was followed by the debate of the SANT Members.

This day raises awareness of rare diseases and the challenges faced by patients and their families. While each disease affects relatively few people (fewer than 1 in 2000), rare diseases collectively impact around 300 million people worldwide with over 6000 conditions identified. Many have a genetic cause, are serious, chronic, and life-limiting, and diagnosis often takes an average of 5 years.

On 24 February, Committee on Public Health organised a public hearing on Neurological health. Members of the SANT committee discussed brain health, an important public health issue, in two panels: "Successes and challenges of cutting-edge research on neurology and the potential of neurotechnology" and "European collaboration on neurological health, in particular in the field of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases", which was followed by the exchange of views and the debate.