/ image alliance, Michael Kappeler
Berlin – The European Union is committed to a national menopause strategy at federal level. A motion from opposition parties was debated in the Bundestag today. Parliamentary groups have been largely open to this topic. The application has now been referred to the committee for further discussion. The Health Committee takes a leading role.
“Menopause is like a well-kept secret,” said Kirsten Kappert-Gonther (Green Party), acting chair of the Health Committee. More and more women are affected, but almost no one is talking about it. Until now, women would completely disappear from the screen once they reached a certain age.
“Only when we look at this time without taboos can we eliminate stereotypes and then women can develop their potential,” Kappert-Gonther said. This app offers a good basis for finally taking the needs of people going through menopause seriously and putting them on screen.
“Menopause is an unclear point in the social debate,” stressed Simone Borchardt (CDU), member of the Health Committee. Menopausal symptoms are often underrecognized or misinterpreted. We need to raise social awareness of this problem. This app is a great way to do this.
“There is a huge deficit that must be corrected in women’s health,” stressed SPD politician Heike Engelhardt, who is a member of the health committee. This has been supported by research funding. Regarding menopause, apart from funding research, the most important thing is achieving social acceptance.
“Women should be able to decide for themselves how they want to shape this phase of their lives,” said Saskia Weishaupt (Green Party), member of the health committee. Until recently, menopause received little attention and this needs to change. This is a joint effort between politics, society, self-government and health insurance companies. Therefore, he was very grateful for the proposal.
“Menopause must be out of the taboo zone,” emphasized Nicole Westig (FDP), member of the health committee. Due to changing demographics, more and more women will experience menopause in the future. To prevent economic damage and to continue participating in global competition, solutions must be considered immediately.
However, not everything can be solved politically, Westig criticized. Corporate health management, which according to the CDU/CSU request must be supplemented by offers for women during menopause, is not a legislative matter.
Instead, health promotion must come from the companies themselves. Therefore, it is important to increase overall public awareness regarding menopause so that companies also realize that they must create opportunities for women affected by it.
Borchardt added that in addition to employers, health insurance companies also need to be sensitized so that appropriate offers can be created for women in the corporate context.
Ultimately, men must also take responsibility and support these efforts, said Georg Kippels (CDU), who is also a member of the health committee. They also have an obligation to actively participate in educating the public about menopause. Ignorance about menopause must be dispelled immediately.
The AfD is the only faction that is skeptical and opposes the proposal. “Does our society not have other problems?” asked Christina Baum (AfD), one of the health committee members, and considered the issue of menopause unimportant.
This application is based on the initiative of CSU member of the Bundestag Emmi Zeulner. On World Menopause Day celebrated today, Zeulner once again emphasized how politically important it is to address this issue.
“We are currently experiencing increasing brutalization in many debates, especially by the AfD,” said the CSU politician. “What is even more important is that we send a strong signal on this issue: women’s health is not a side issue, but a major social concern. The fact that we are discussing this topic in the Bundestag on World Menopause Day at the request of the CDU/CSU shows how important women’s health is to us.”
Reflecting on the UK’s menopause efforts, Zeulner said it was worth broadening our perspective and learning from each other. “That’s why I would love if this debate developed into cross-party cooperation that really takes us forward.”
During the debate, Zeulner thanked the various initiatives that have brought the topic of menopause to public attention. “Our task now is to take this initiative,” he said. “The next generation should be better.”
aerzteblatt.de
The movement calls for the removal of taboos surrounding menopause and the empowerment of women in this phase of life. Menopause is an important phase in every woman’s life which is accompanied by physical, psychological and social changes.
In its proposal, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group views menopause as a problem for society as a whole. Therefore, this climacteric not only has a direct impact on women’s health, but also has an economic and social impact, thus making this issue a political issue.
This application contains proposals to expand education and awareness-raising efforts regarding menopause and to draw on international experience and examples of best practice, for example from the UK. Access to medical services should be “easily accessible and free or inexpensive for patients.”
In addition to a national menopause strategy and the development of guidelines for a “new policy for women’s health”, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group’s proposal also calls for the topic of menopause to be discussed more intensively in medical studies, “not least to avoid wrong diagnoses and “to avoid wrong treatment” appropriate.
In this context, the application also discusses remuneration for practicing gynecologists to provide advice on menopausal symptoms and therapy. Other topics include research funding and corporate health management, which will be expanded significantly. © nfs/aerzteblatt.de
