Dr. Elena Català, anaesthesiologist and member of the 'Woman and Pain' board, and Dr. Antonio Collado, rheumatologist and also member of the ‘Woman and Pain’ board, took part in the presentation of the Platform. The Platform has received support from the management of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, through Dr. Antoni Castells; from the Catalan Women’s Institute through its new president, Meritxell Benedí; and from Barcelona City Hall through Sonia Ruiz as the director of Gender Services and the Observatory for Women’s Health of the Directorate-General of Public Health. Support has also been received from Ministry of Heath through Marta Cardaba. The presentation ceremony included a talk by the neurobiologist and science commentator, Mara Dierssen.
Chronic pain is one of the main serious health problems suffered by the population, and two out of three people affected by this are women.Its consequences can be devastating, since they create significant constraints, with serious effects on socioeconomic independence. Moreover, particularly in women, this situation can lead to a lack of social opportunities, and to inequalities and exclusions, which are not sufficiently evaluated and are reinforced by the gender-related educational, employment and economic gap.
This situation justifies the need to deepen to study the development of chronic pain and its biopsychosocial mechanisms in greater depth, with a more specific analysis of its impact on public health and social opportunities with regard to gender.
The Platform, presented this Thursday, proposes to bring all these people, institutions, societies and public and private bodies together, which believe in and feel identified with the mission and objectives of the 'Women and Pain' Platform (www.mujerydolor.es), in order to make this non-profit project a reality.
