Editorial word: Time for EU member states to end violence against health workers

The numbers of people experiencing violence or harassment at work are “truly awful,” said conservative MEP Cindy Franssen, co-rapporteur for the European Parliament report on the draft Council decision inviting EU member states to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention 190 on violence and harassment.

Franssen spoke before Parliament voted in favour of the report on Tuesday (12 March) afternoon.

To date, 38 countries have ratified the ILO convention, of which eight are EU countries.

In Spain, Italy, Greece, and Ireland it is ratified and in force. In Germany, France, and Belgium, the ratification will enter into force in 2024, and in Portugal in 2025.

The ratification is urgent and the Parliament’s vote happened to take place exactly on the “Awareness Day of Violence Against Doctors and other Healthcare Professionals.”

Last year, doctors and nurses associations warned that the reported amount of violence is steadily rising and according to the European Federation of Nurses (EFN), 23% of the EUs health workers “experienced at least one form of negative social behaviour during the last 12 months of work”.

EFN also referenced studies showing “that health professionals are 16 times more at risk of violence than other professionals.”

This trend was also evident in the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021 (EWCTS).

Here it was revealed that healthcare workers report levels of unwanted sexual attention up to three times higher than the EU average. They also report levels of bullying, harassment and violence 2-3 times higher that the EU average, and 2.5 times the amount of verbal abuse or threats than the EU average.

That no doubt makes violence and harassment a significant concern in relation to the worsening healthcare crisis.

Particularly because the EWCTS also detailed how workers “who experience adverse social behaviour” on the job are approximately three times more likely to experience physical and emotional burnout (32% compared to 10%) and emotional exhaustion (40% compared to 14%).

They also become almost twice as likely to suffer from anxiety (53% compared to 27%) or at risk of depression (38% compared to 20%).

As the Belgian EU Council presidency works towards getting EU member states on board for a future health workforce strategy, it is crucial to address this issue.

Even more so when it comes to how violence and harassment are disproportionately affecting women and minorities in the health workforce.

Women make up 76% of healthcare workers in the EU, according to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).

During the current political mandate, a number of significant steps have definitely been taken in the EU on gender-based violence, such as the EU Gender Equality Strategy, followed by a provisional agreement on the union’s first-ever law on violence against women on 6 February.

However, it is time for EU countries to fully commit, and not just to the ILO convention.

There are several member states (we are looking at you Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, and Slovakia) that still have not ratified the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence from 2014.

With proper commitment and a likely EU health workforce strategy in the next political mandate, violence and harrassment against health workers could be addressed better. Ideally even with more specific measures to target gender-based violence in healthcare, as suggested by the European Policy Centre in November 2023.

EU news

• Macron defends strict conditions of ‘French-style’ model for assisted dying
• Sharp rise in sexually transmitted infections in Europe, warns EU health agency
• French banks keep financing tobacco industry, despite promises
• ‘Difficult political decisions’ about health priorities ahead, warns EU health commissioner
• ENVI votes in favour of a range of three key files on health-environment

• Macron defends strict conditions of ‘French-style’ model for assisted dying. A ‘French-style’ bill on assisted dying will be presented to France’s Council of Ministers in April, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed in an interview on Sunday (10 March), underlining that it will function differently to similar laws in other EU countries. Clara Bauer-Babef reported on it.

• Sharp rise in sexually transmitted infections in Europe, warns EU health agency. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned that there is a need for action to address the significant rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the EU/EEA. Amalie Holmgaard Mersh has more on it.

• French banks keep financing tobacco industry, despite promises. Since 2018, French banks have granted more than five billion dollars in loans to the tobacco industry, according to a report by the investigative organisation Profundo, commissioned by the French Alliance Against Tobacco (ACT) and published on Wednesday (6 March). Clara Bauer-Babef reported here.

• ‘Difficult political decisions’ about health priorities ahead, warns EU health commissioner. EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides addressed for the first time the concerns among EU lawmakers and health stakeholders about a planned €1 billion cut in the EU’s main funding programme for health, saying a comprehensive assessment was still needed. Amalie Holmgaard Mersh reported on it here.
• ENVI votes in favour of a range of three key files on health-environment. During the meeting on Monday (11 March), members of the European Parliament voted in favour of the provisional agreements on phasing out mercury in dental amalgam, the urban wastewater treatment directive and the ambient air quality rules.

News from the Capitals

STOCKHOLM
In a bid to stem massive layoffs in Sweden’s emergency hospitals, the Swedish government wants to allocate an extra €530 million to the health sector. But the opposition and Swedens regions say it’s not enough. Read more.

///

SOFIA
Bulgarians exposed to rare diseases health risks by bureaucracy. Bulgaria’s lack of a comprehensive strategy for rare diseases now poses a serious risk to patient health. Administrative obstacles and insufficient screening programmes have left Bulgarians with rare diseases diagnosed late, or not at all, and fewer orphan drugs are available to Sofia compared to the EU average. Read more.

///

BRUSSELS
Belgian MEP proposes custom orphan drug exclusivity for innovation in untreated areas. Belgian MEP Frederique Ries has proposed tailoring market exclusivity periods for orphan drugs to foster innovation, advocating a 12-year exclusivity period for orphan drug indications lacking authorised medicinal products in the EU. Read more.

///

WARSAW
Poland gradually narrowing access gap for innovative cancer medicines. Although Polish access to novel cancer medicines has improved significantly, Poland still lags many EU countries in terms of the availability of innovative therapies, retaining one of the longest waiting periods in Europe between drug registration and reimbursement, according to a new report. Read more.

///

PRAGUE
Czechia worst whooping cough outbreak in a decade spurs vaccination push. Amid a startling surge in whooping cough cases in Czechia, health experts and officials have raised the alarm over the escalating situation, the Czech State Health Institute describing it as the worst outbreak in a decade. Read more.

Read more with Euractiv