White House Issues Order on Advancing Women's Health Research and Care

The White House issued an executive order titled "Advancing Women's Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life," setting out a federal directive to expand women's health research and improve the translation of that research into medical care. The order says the administration is committed to advancing women's health and ensuring that medical research, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment reflect the highest quality scientific evidence.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

It states that the goal is to improve health outcomes in all phases of life. The text says many diseases and conditions that disproportionately or uniquely affect women have not received the same level of research, clinical attention, and treatment as other conditions.

It names cardiovascular and heart disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, osteoporosis, mental health, chronic pain, endometriosis, fibroids, polyendocrine metabolic ovary syndrome, infertility, maternal health, menopause, neurological disorders, and aging among the areas requiring more research. The order says improving outcomes for women requires coordinated federal leadership, scientific investment, and accelerated translation of research into clinical and community practice.

It adds that previous administrations invested in women's health research, but says federal efforts now need to be enhanced, streamlined, and elevated, including the critical step of translating research into health solutions. The policy section says the United States will prioritize turning research into improved clinical care for women and girls through a comprehensive approach that recognizes evolving health needs from infancy, childhood, and adolescence through pregnancy, midlife, menopause, and aging.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

It says this approach should support timely, stage-specific prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. Under the order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health, must establish a Women's Health Division within an appropriate institute or center within 90 days.

The division is to work in coordination with the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health. The division's listed functions include increasing the scientific review of understudied women's health conditions, advancing and coordinating research including replication studies, and promoting innovation and advanced research technologies.

The order says these efforts are intended to accelerate diagnosis and improve access to prevention, treatment, specialized healthcare services, personalized medicine, and coordinated care delivery. The division is also directed to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, support data-collection and research methodologies that improve understanding of sex-specific health outcomes, increase inclusion of women and girls in clinical trials, and develop accountability for grant recipients to strengthen adherence to the NIH policy requiring research to account for sex as a biological variable.

It must also help translate scientific discoveries into clinical practice and public health implementation across federal, state, and local jurisdictions. The order directs the division to work with relevant federal partners to expand strategic coordination, policy leadership, career development, and the advancement of women's health research across disciplines.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Separately, it establishes the White House Women's Health Task Force. The task force will be co-chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff.

Its membership includes the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The co-chairs may hold public hearings, meetings, roundtables, and similar events, and may receive expert input from leaders in women's health, technology, academia, the private sector, philanthropy, and other subject areas.

The Department of Health and Human Services will provide funding for the task force's administrative costs. The task force is instructed to ensure that the federal government pursues a comprehensive approach to women's health across all phases of life and to support necessary policy and regulatory reforms for timely and stage-specific prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care.

It is also told to focus on advancing the science of women's health, accelerating evidence-based strategies to translate research into policy and best clinical practices, and advancing patient-centered care through coordinated, preventive, woman-centered care across primary care, specialty care, and behavioral health providers. The order says these efforts may include advising agency heads on pilot programs to improve incentives for integrating prevention, early intervention, and treatment, and to remove obsolete silos between agencies, programs, or systems where permitted by law.

It also directs consultation with states, tribal nations, local jurisdictions, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, the private sector, philanthropic entities, and other stakeholders to translate research into practice. The order revokes Executive Order 14120 of March 18, 2024, titled "Advancing Women's Health Research and Innovation," and a Presidential Memorandum of November 13, 2023, titled "White House Initiative on Women's Health Research." It says implementation is subject to applicable law and the availability of appropriations, and that the order does not create enforceable rights or benefits against the United States.

#WomenHealthResearch #HHS #NIH #CDC #FDA