The Manneken Pis feels the Urge to Act
On Wednesday, 25 September, the famous ‘Manneken Pis’ in Brussels was dressed as a urologist as part of the Urge to Act campaign, which aims at raising awareness on continence health problems. Incontinence is a very common urological condition which affects nearly half of all Europeans. Making tangible changes to European health policy on incontinence is vital to improving diagnoses and optimising patient outcomes through increased prevention, better care and access to supportive interventions and treatments. Eurocarers supports the Urge to Act campaign.
At the end of 2023, the alliance of organisations supporting the Urge to Act campaign, launched a Socio-economic report. This found that 55 to 60 million Europeans suffer from Urinary Incontinence (UI) and that across all EU countries, the estimated economic burden of UI was €69.1 billion in 2023. Moreover, when including caregiver costs, this economic burden increased by 16% on average.
The report highlighted that informal caregivers bear the brunt of providing care, necessitating an average of two days off per week. With the aging population set to increase the prevalence of UI, raising awareness among national and EU policymakers becomes imperative.
After the Manneken Pis photo opportunity, the EAU held its inaugural EUrology Session. These sessions are designed to inform Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) about various urological conditions and how developing European health policy can alleviate the burden for patients, carers and society at large. This first session was focused on incontinence and An Urge to Act, informing attendees about the findings from a 2023 Economic Health Report.
During the session, Antonella Sberna, Vice-President of the European Parliament and substitute member of the ENVI Committee, underscored the importance of expert groups in advocating public health issues to policymakers. She emphasized the need for multidisciplinary alliances to provide comprehensive coverage of health topics.
To learn more about the Urge to Act campaign and contribute to spreading awareness about incontinence, visit the Urge to Act website.
