Health equity advocates have long held that women have been, and continue to be, underrepresented in medical research. It was therefore a very welcomed development when U.S. President Joe Biden just signed an executive order designed to expand the ways in which health research will better incorporate women’s data to reduce disparities in medical research and health outcomes for women.
The sweeping executive order seeks several objectives, including to prioritize funding for research on women’s health, spearhead new research on the midlife health of women, and evaluate unfulfilled needs to better espouse and champion women’s health research. On the funding front, the executive order initiated a $200 million NIH pledge to launch NIH-led research focused on closing voids in women’s health research across the lifespan, such as the wide-ranging health implications of menopause.
To spark greater innovation in women’s health research, the initiative also includes the launch by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health of a $100 million “Sprint for Women’s Health” program. This funding is earmarked for ground-breaking research and development solely in the area of women’s health.
Separately, in a bold move to reduce the gap in health data collection between genders, the NIH will commence an initiative to improve data accuracy across health and medical research, given the historical conundrum of male data dominating health research. The goal is to reduce skews in health research results, outcomes and applicability between men and women. Health equity proponents are lauding this expansion of data collection, given its importance in reducing gender disparities in health research.
More information relating to the executive order can be found here.
