European Hormone Day 2024 puts spotlight on the vital role of hormones in chronic diseases

European Hormone Day 2024: Endocrine community unites to raise public awareness and push for policy action on hormone health

European Hormone Day returns for the third year today, 24 April 2024, putting a spotlight on the vital role of hormones in chronic diseases such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, cancer and obesity, as well as many rare diseases.

The European Society of Endocrinology (ESE), the European Hormone and Metabolism Foundation (ESE Foundation), and partners from key groups and organisations across Europe and beyond will join forces to highlight simple steps we can all take towards better hormone health.

This builds on the success of the previous two campaigns, when the endocrine community issued a collective call for change to put hormones at the heart of health policy in Europe, focusing on four key areas including obesity, cancer, rare endocrine diseases and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. ESE and the ESE Foundation published Recognising the Key Role of Hormones in European Health: 'The Milano 2022 Declaration in 2022, and a public-facing annex to the Milano Declaration, 10 Recommendations for Good Hormone Health, in 2023. An updated infographic of the 10 Recommendations is available here.

With European Parliament elections on the horizon, it's vital that we keep talking about the importance of endocrine issues and make sure new and returning policymakers are aware of the steps they can take to improve Europe's hormone health. European Hormone Day is a timely opportunity to call for a renewed commitment to legislative initiatives such as REACH, which will tackle the harmful effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and to funding programs that ensure Europe leads the way in essential endocrinology research."

Jérôme Bertherat, ESE President

One such example is the conference on 'Tomorrow's Chemicals Policies: Perspectives and Challenges', hosted by the Belgian EU Presidency yesterday and today (23-24 April 2024), coinciding with EHD. Experts, scientists, civil society and industry representatives met to discuss the current landscape of chemicals policy, including endocrine disruptors and ways to improve the effectiveness of REACH legislation. Prof. Robin Peeters (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam) spoke on behalf of ESE.

Martin Reincke, Chair of the ESE Foundation, says:

"European Hormone Day is a fantastic opportunity for organisations with a shared interest in endocrine health to join forces and advocate for better hormone health on a much bigger scale than we might be able to do individually. We encourage everyone to use the hashtag #BecauseHormonesMatter today and on related awareness days so we can celebrate and learn from others in the endocrine community and spread the message to a wider audience."