President Biden Signs Executive Order to Expand Women’s Health Research
In a historic move, President Biden signed an executive order on Monday to expand the federal government’s research into women’s health, focusing on midlife conditions like menopause, arthritis, and heart disease, as well as issues specifically affecting women in the military.
The White House described this action as the “most comprehensive” by a president on women’s health research, directing federal agencies to prioritize research on health conditions and diseases that disproportionately affect women. Standing alongside First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, President Biden emphasized the importance of improving women’s health for a healthy and stable economy.
Carolyn M. Mazure, a psychologist and professor at the Yale School of Medicine, who chairs the White House initiative on Women’s Health Research, highlighted that conditions like heart disease, Alzheimer’s, menopause, and fibroids would be a focus of the expanded research effort.
Maria Shriver, former first lady of California, noted the significance of the executive order, stating, “I’ll bet today that this is the first time a president of the United States has ever signed an executive order that mentions the words ‘menopause’ and ‘women’s midlife health’ in it.”
The Biden administration has been vocal about the importance of women’s health, especially in light of recent legal decisions impacting reproductive rights. President Biden has accused Republicans of undermining women’s health and has pledged to invest in women’s health research.
The executive order will require agencies to report annually on their investments in women’s health research and explore the use of artificial intelligence in advancing such research. The National Institutes of Health will increase investments in small businesses focused on women’s health by 50 percent, and the Defense Department plans to invest $10 million in studying cancers and mental health issues affecting women in the military.
The White House has called on Congress to pass a plan to invest $12 billion in creating a new fund for women’s health research at the National Institutes of Health. In the meantime, the executive order directs the N.I.H. to allocate $200 million to women’s health research, with an initial $100 million to support researchers and start-up companies.
This executive order marks a significant step towards prioritizing women’s health research and addressing the unique health challenges faced by women across the country.
