Case Study
Fighting Europe’s demographic deficit
Declining fertility rates are combining with increased life expectancy to create a situation in which the size of the European Union’s population is falling and its demographic profile aging. This demographic crisis will have profound implications for Europe’s already over-stretched public finances and long term trend growth rate.
Infertility treatment has a major role to play in addressing the demographic deficit but this potential is limited by a number of fundamental issues, including: a lack of public provision for treatment and infertility related research; poor public health education; and inadequate and inappropriate regulation of infertility treatment.
One solution to these problems, according to two of Europe’s leading infertility specialists, is the establishment of a pan-European infertility body with responsibility for research and disseminating policy ideas to the Member States. To place this idea on the political agenda requires the European Commission to think beyond the economic and social dimensions of the demographic deficit, and overcome perceptions that infertility policy should be the exclusive preserve of Member States.
To overcome these obstacles, a media focused campaign was undertaken in Brussels and other key Member States to raise awareness of the European dimension of the infertility crisis, and apply pressure to national and Brussels-based decision-makers for an appropriate European level response. This campaign supported more discreet public affairs activities.
As a result of this integrated campaign, a pan-European infertility body is now on the political agenda and significant progress has been made in overturning the view that this therapy area should be dealt with exclusively at Member State level.
