A National Strategy to Close the Women’s Health Gap has been unveiled on Capitol Hill, outlining a federal investment framework for women’s health in the United States. Led by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the Society for Women’s Health Research, and the Women First Research Coalition, the initiative is backed by more than 30 organizations.
The plan calls for a $20 billion congressional commitment over the next decade, focused on five priorities: research and innovation, modern policy, data infrastructure, workforce support, and public education.
Despite representing more than half the population, women remain underrepresented in biomedical research, with women’s health receiving less than 10% of NIH funding. Seeking to expand investment beyond reproductive health, the strategy supports female-specific conditions as well as those that disproportionately affect women, including cardiovascular disease, autoimmune conditions, and Alzheimer’s.
“Closing the women’s health gap requires not only funding research, but also investment in the people who conduct that research and those who translate research findings and discoveries into better patient care,” said ACOG CEO Sandra E. Brooks, MD, MBA, FACOG.
Beyond expanding research, the proposal calls for strengthening the women’s health workforce and accelerating the adoption of evidence-based care, aiming to move scientific advances from the lab to the clinic more quickly.
The National Strategy to Close the Women’s Health Gap was unveiled on Capitol Hill, outlining a federal investment framework for women’s health.
Led by the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, the Society for Women’s Health Research, and the Women First Research Coalition, the initiative is backed by more than 30 organizations.
Calling for a $20 billion congressional commitment over the next decade, the plan focuses on five priorities: research and innovation, modern policy, data infrastructure, workforce support, and public education.
Despite representing more than half the population, women remain underrepresented in biomedical research, with women’s health receiving less than 10% of NIH funding. Seeking to expand investment beyond reproductive health,, the strategy supports female-specific conditions and those that disproportionately affect women, including cardiovascular disease, autoimmune conditions, and Alzheimer’s.
“Closing the women’s health gap requires not only funding research, but also investment in the people who conduct that research and those who translate research findings and discoveries into better patient care,” said ACOG CEO Sandra E. Brooks, MD, MBA, FACOG.
Beyond expanding research, the proposal calls for strengthening the women’s health workforce and accelerating the adoption of evidence-based care, aiming to move scientific advances from the lab to the clinic more quickly.
