Women’s Health Research Lacks Funding
Conditions that affect women more than men garner less funding. But boosting investment could reap big rewards.
In this study of more than 20,000 clinical trials in the United States between 2000 and 2020, women were under-represented in some trial types and over-represented in others.
The 2021 analysis “demonstrates that the funding of research for women is not aligned with burdens of disease,” says Sarah Temkin, Associate Director for Clinical Research at the NIH Office of Research of Women’s Health.
Why is this so important? “A separate study modeled how doubling US funding for women’s health could yield health and economic improvements over a 30-year period. In coronary artery disease, for example, more funding increased life expectancy and disease-free years for men and women – with the model assuming a larger benefit for women.”