For too long, menopause has been treated as a private matter – something to be dealt with quietly, often invisibly. But that silence carries a cost and fails to acknowledge the profound impact that menopause has on millions of European women, disrupting their health, their family life, and their careers.
The Parliament has partnered with pharmaceutical company Besins Healthcare to launch a new campaign aiming to shine a light on menopause, something that all women will experience in their lifetimes – and urging the EU institutions to lead the way.
“This is a major health issue. It affects half the adult population and intersects with economic, social, and healthcare priorities,” André Kindling, Managing Director at Besins Healthcare Germany told The Parliament. “When menopausal symptomatic women are unsupported, this does not just affect them as individuals – it highlights a collective responsibility we must address.”
All women who live for a natural lifespan will experience the menopause. However, experts argue that public awareness and health policy still lag the science. Up to 90% of women in Europe experience a variety of symptoms at some point during the menopausal transition, ranging from hot flushes and night sweats to sleep disturbances and physical and mental exhaustion. Around half report these symptoms as bothersome. Despite that prevalence and impact, access to consistent, evidence-based care across the EU is at best fragmented or at worst entirely missing.
Menopause doesn’t just impact on individual women. The condition also carries a significant economic cost for European nations. In Germany, for example, the annual economic cost of menopause-related productivity loss is estimated at €9.4 billion due to women reducing hours or leaving jobs altogether. Across the G7, menopausal women account for around 11% of the workforce, a share expected to grow due to demographic changes and workforce trends.
Despite this prevalence, menopause is barely addressed in labour policy or employment law.
Many healthcare professionals, including gynaecologists, don’t receive structured training in menopause care. This leads to misdiagnosis, under-treatment, and frustration for patients.
Campaigners and patient organisations believe that the recent Women’s Health Strategy in the UK could provide a useful template for coordinated action at a European level that can improve support for women experiencing menopause.
“First and foremost, we need widespread education,” Kindling explains. “We need to break the taboo and normalise the conversation – in schools, in workplaces, in the media, and in healthcare. Women cannot seek care or support if they don’t recognise what they are experiencing.”
The campaign is set to focus on a range of issues including the integration of menopause-related care into national health systems, access to psychosocial support, mandatory workplace accommodations, and dedicated funding for research. One priority is the inclusion of gynaecological endocrinology in medical training, where current coverage remains patchy or absent.
“There’s an urgent need to close the knowledge gap,” Kindling said. “Many healthcare professionals, including gynaecologists, don’t receive structured training in menopause care. This leads to misdiagnosis, under-treatment, and frustration for patients.”
Another area of focus is set to be workplace adaptation. The campaign calls on employers to support the 83 million women who are being directly affected in the workplace, notably with formal obligations including flexible working conditions and training for managers. “No woman should feel forced to downscale her career or exit the workforce due to unmanaged symptoms,” Kindling added.
No woman should feel forced to downscale her career or exit the workforce due to unmanaged symptoms.
A shift in approach towards dealing with menopause would generate potential benefits that extend far beyond individual well-being. A 2024 report from the World Economic Forum estimates that closing the broader women’s health gap could unlock $1 trillion in global GDP by 2040.
“When we support women through menopause, we don’t just improve lives. We strengthen our economies and our health systems,” Kindling tells The Parliament. “The cost of inaction is no longer defensible.”
The campaign is also set to challenge industry and institutions to do better when it comes to the collection and use of data. Current gaps in evidence make it difficult to design targeted interventions or measure progress. Experts argue that EU-wide research and standardised reporting are needed to understand the full economic and public health impact.
“This is about future-proofing our societies,” Kindling tells us. “The question is not whether we can afford to act. It is whether we can afford not to.”
The cost of menopause:
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€120bn – The estimated yearly cost of menopause-related to the global economy.
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€9.4bn – The estimated productivity loss in Germany alone, due to women reducing hours or leaving jobs for menopause-related factors.
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Up to 90% of European post-menopausal women surveyed reported that they suffered from symptoms at some point during the menopausal transition.
Join the conversation
Over the coming months, The Parliament and Besins Healthcare Germany will partner to host a series of policy-maker events to discuss and raise awareness of the issue. This will include a dinner event in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on October 22nd. To find out more and register interest in attending, email events@theparliamentmagazine.eu.
Besins Healthcare will also support The Parliament’s Health Summit 2025, taking place on November 4th at the Residence Palace.
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