On March 15, 2022, the European Parliament’s committees on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) and Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) released an own-initiative report (INI) entitled ‘Towards a common European action on care’. MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, Finland) and MEP Milan Brglez (S&D, SIovenia) are the co-rapporteurs of the draft report.
The report covers issues related to gender equality, health services, medical institutions and the elderly. It stresses the importance of an integrated approach to common European action on care that pays equal attention to people’s physical, psychological and social needs.
The draft report is a reaction from the EP to the upcoming European Care Strategy (Q3 2022). According to the Commission Work Programme 2022, the strategy will address both carers and care receivers, from childcare to long-term care. It will set a framework for policy reforms to guide the development of sustainable long-term care that ensures better and more affordable access to quality services for all. Synergies with other EU initiatives on digitalisation can help improve health and digital literacy, facilitate the use of medical devices for the elderly, the collection of data and secure better health outcomes.
IDF Europe supports the EP’s call for the Commission to present an ambitious European Care Strategy that builds on everyone’s right to affordable, accessible, and high-quality care and encompasses the entire life course, is based on reliable and comparable data and includes concrete and progressive goals with a timetable and indicators to evaluate progress.
The European Care Strategy is an important piece of legislation for people living with diabetes (PwD), their families and carers. As diabetes is a chronic condition that can be developed very early on in life, both the needs of people and carers will evolve over time. This requires long-term sustainable care that enables PwD to live independent, healthy and active lives. Integrated care and comprehensive care pathways are important for health outcomes and quality of life.
