The White House has taken yet another step to advance women’s health. After launching a women’s health research initiative in November and announcing a $100 million investment in February, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Monday that will distribute $12 billion to improve women’s health research and innovation. Several women’s health executives are coming out in support of the series of efforts by the White House.
“It is terrific to see the domino effect of initiatives rolling out from the Biden-Harris administration aimed at driving changes to the women’s healthcare system, starting with the First Lady’s $100 million funding announcement a few weeks ago,” said Anu Sharma, founder and CEO of maternal health company Millie, in an email. “This $12 billion is definitely a more substantial number and gets us closer to what is needed to bridge the gap in women’s healthcare.”
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According to the fact sheet, the executive order includes:
- Calling on the initiative’s constituent agencies to improve research and data standards for women’s health “across all relevant research and funding opportunities, with the goal of helping ensure that the Administration is better leveraging every dollar of federal funding for health research to improve women’s health.”
- Directing the constituent agencies to “prioritize funding for women’s health research and encourage innovation in women’s health,” such as through ARPA-H and the Small Business Innovation Research Program.
- Calling on HHS to improve data collection for women’s midlife health, release a research agenda for future investments in menopause research, find ways to improve the treatment of menopause-related issues and more.
- Directing the Office of Management and Budget and the Gender Policy Council to find gaps in federal funding for women’s health research and determine the necessary changes to “maximally support the broad scope of women’s health research across the federal government.”
In addition, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden announced more than 20 new actions from federal agencies. For example, the National Institutes of Health is launching an effort that will invest $200 million in “interdisciplinary women’s health research.”
One women’s health executive applauded the Administration’s focus areas for the executive order.
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“At a time when we have become accustomed to outside forces regulating women’s health care decisions, it is refreshing to have an administration finally recognize the need for additional research and innovation into women’s health, which starts with an influx of funding,” said Monica Cepak, CEO of sexual health company WISP. “President Biden has called out specific areas he wants this money to be allocated to, and I am excited to see that menopause, sexual and reproductive health were included within the list.”
Dr. Suzette Glasner, chief scientific officer of substance use management company Pelago and a UCLA Researcher, also came out in support of the executive order. She added that there is a desperate need to improve care for women with substance use disorders. A couple of the actions from federal agencies seek to improve efforts on this front, including one from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“The gender gap in substance use disorders has been narrowing, which is concerning because the progression from substance misuse to addiction is generally more rapid for women than men. … Given that less than 11% of women with substance use disorders access treatment, funding is urgently needed to help close critical gaps in our understanding and resources targeting the unique needs of women who are living with substance use disorders,” Glasner said.
Photo: Philip Rozenski, Getty Images
