Europe’s workforce is under pressure. Fifty-one million working-age adults are unemployed across the EU, and its workforce is projected to shrink by an additional 18 million people by 2050 due to an ageing population.
Another, and often overlooked, issue risks adding to this number: Europe’s escalating rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD) crisis.
More than 120 million Europeans live with RMDs, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic back pain. Almost every EU citizen will experience one of these conditions — directly or through a loved one — during their lifetime.
As highly prevalent, chronic, degenerative conditions, RMDs are the second most common reason for consulting a doctor in Europe, accounting for 10 to 20% of all primary healthcare consultations across EU member states.
Workplace weaknesses through sickness and care
At a time when Europe is debating how to stay economically competitive, this presents a challenge beyond treatment. RMDs account for around 60% of all workplace health problems and are the leading cause of work loss, and early retirement due to physical disability.
Women, older workers, and persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected by RMDs — three groups identified by the European Commission as being crucial to offsetting Europe’s chronic workforce shortages.
The informal and unpaid care needs of these conditions create obstacles for women to participate in education and employment. By 2050, it is estimated that RMDs are projected to cause over 2.3 million ‘years lived caregiving’ — which measures the number of years and proportion of adult life spent in an unpaid caregiving role — annually in Europe.
If left unaddressed, this trend will severely undermine EU ambitions for gender equality, inclusion, and productivity.
A health crisis Europe can no longer afford to ignore
Access to treatment will become more difficult as RMD prevalence continues to rise. EU citizens will experience slower diagnosis, faster disease progression, greater disability, and increased rated of multi-morbidity. Meanwhile, Europe will continue to experience stubborn labour shortages and health and social care funding crises.
But change is possible if decisive action is taken. The starting point must be to name the crisis – and act on it.
The RMD crisis and its impact on EU labour shortages must be recognised in upcoming policies on both a national and EU-level. A clear political signal must be sent to member states that addressing Europe’s escalating RMD crisis is a matter of urgency.
Europe must begin to measure the full public health and socio-economic burden of disease and move beyond a singular focus on mortality that has obscured the impact of RMDs. EU health policy and health research prioritisation must be better aligned with the EU’s competitiveness, preparedness and resilience agendas.
Europe’s health and safety framework remains too broad, fragmented and outdated to tackle a crisis of this scale and nature. Targeted initiatives are needed to ensure adequate workplace prevention, ergonomic standards, and accommodation programmes. People living with RMDs must be provided with enough flexibility to allow them to stay in work.
Europe’s invisible labour crisis
Like Achilles’ Heel, RMDs are Europe’s hidden vulnerability — disabling millions, deepening labour shortages, and threatening the sustainability of our health and social care systems.
If we continue to overlook them, Europe’s competitiveness and social model will falter where they are least protected.
The MEPs involved in this op-ed are MEP Miriam Lexmann (Co-Chair MEPs for RMD Action), MEP Alex Agius Saliba (Co-Chair MEPs for RMD Action), MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP Alicia Homs Ginel, MEP Tomislav Sokol and MEP David Casa.
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