The Center for Gender Medicine was founded ten years ago. Some years later, I was pleased to be able to open your premises here at the Karolinska Hospital. You were the first centre in the world to provide more in-depth knowledge about the significance of diseases from a gender perspective. Since then, a great deal has happened and you can be proud of this.

An anniversary is an excellent opportunity to look back and reflect on what has been achieved. Over the years, the centre has awarded a lot of funding for research. A dozen or so theses have received grants from the centre, and you have supported hundreds of scientific publications. A number of research and education positions have also been established. Today, there are researchers, directors of education and PhD students linked to the centre. Europe's first online course in gender medicine was launched last year, with students from throughout the Nordic region. These are impressive results in just ten years.

You have made a valuable contribution towards showing the importance of gender medicine research. In many common public diseases there are differences between the genders, in relation to both their origin and their treatment. You have helped to research and demonstrate these gender perspectives in many different ways.

It is not only here in Sweden that the Center for Gender Medicine has been important. It has also provided inspiration in international contexts. There has been an International Society for Gender Medicine for several years now. This is a global network that has arranged several international conferences in a short space of time, bringing together researchers from all over the world to address these issues. This would not have been possible without your work.

An anniversary is also an occasion to look forward and see what we hope to achieve in the future. Over the course of a decade you have become a role model for many care institutions around the world. Congratulations!

Today's symposium marks the beginning of the future, and I would like to wish you good luck in your continued vital work.