Breakfast Session 1

Fireside chat on women's health

Organised by the European Health Forum Gastein and Women in Global Health Austria

Women’s health is not a collection of individual issues—it is a systemic challenge. Across the world, persistent gaps in research, data, access to care and health outcomes continue to affect women throughout their lives. While the nature and scale of these gaps vary, many of the underlying challenges are shared: women’s health is still too often framed narrowly around reproductive health; women’s experiences and voices are undervalued; evidence remains incomplete; and health systems struggle to translate knowledge into equitable, integrated care.

The contexts, however, matter. In Europe, substantial research capacity, data, healthcare infrastructure and financial resources coexist with persistent gaps in outcomes and implementation. In many countries in the Global South, similar systemic and gender biases intersect with more severe constraints on access, infrastructure and resources, as well as entrenched power imbalances.

What can Europe learn from the experience, innovation and leadership emerging from the Global South—and what can be learned in the other direction? What role can the EU and other regional institutions play through policy, funding, research and data, and how can these efforts translate into action at national level?

This fireside chat will explore how evidence, leadership, alliances and political momentum can come together to make comprehensive women’s health strategies a reality. The goal is not simply to identify the gaps, but to ask what it will take to close them—and to move from commitments to implementation.

Please note that this session will not be livestreamed, however it will be recorded and uploaded to the EHFG You Tube channel during the conference.