The European Parliament adopted a Declaration on fibromyalgia.

Above all, it recalls that nearly 14 million persons in the European Union and 1 to 3 % of the general population worldwide suffer from fibromyalgia, a debilitating condition resulting in chronic widespread pain. However, it is still not coded in the official index of conditions in the EU, which excludes patients from formal diagnosis.

The Parliament also stresses that people with fibromyalgia struggle to lead full and independent lives, unless they have access to appropriate treatment and support.

In this context, the Parliament calls on the Council and the Commission to:

develop a Community strategy on fibromyalgia in order to recognise this condition as a disease; help raise awareness of the condition and facilitate access to information for health professionals and patients, by supporting EU and national awareness campaigns; encourage Member States to improve access to diagnosis and treatment; facilitate research on fibromyalgia through the work programmes of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development and future research programmes; facilitate the development of programmes for collecting data on fibromyalgia.