menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Trump officials reverse course, restore funding for women's health study

2 19
26.04.2025
*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0}#converted-body .list_block ol,#converted-body .list_block ul,.body [class~=x_list_block] ol,.body [class~=x_list_block] ul,u .body .list_block ol,u .body .list_block ul{padding-left:20px} @media (max-width:620px){.desktop_hide table.icons-outer{display:inline-table!important}.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}.reverse{display:table;width:100%}.reverse .column.first{display:table-footer-group!important}.reverse .column.last{display:table-header-group!important}.row-10 td.column.first .border,.row-8 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px}.row-10 td.column.last .border,.row-12 td.column.last .border,.row-8 td.column.last .border{padding:5px 20px 25px 5px}.row-12 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-bottom:15px solid transparent}} Click in for more news from The Hill

{beacon}

Health Care

Health Care

 

The Big Story

Trump officials restore funding for major women's health study

The Trump administration committed to restoring funding for a key women’s health study just days after study leaders said the agency was ending regional center contracts.

© Getty

The study, called the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), was launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1991 to learn about women’s specific health needs since medical studies before then used mainly men.

WHI researchers at the initiative's four regional centers were notified this week that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be terminating their contracts in September.

The White House ordered HHS in early April to cut contract spending by 35 percent to make sure the department was using its funding efficiently.

But HHS’s decision to end the decades-old initiative's financial backing quickly received pushback from researchers and lawmakers alike.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted to X to say the reports of the initiative's funding freeze were “fake news” and that WHI would continue to be financed by the department.

“We are not terminating the study. NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has himself used this study in his own research. We all recognize that this project is mission critical for women’s health,” he wrote on X.

An HHS spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the department is currently working on restoring funding to the study so that its “essential research” not be interrupted.

“NIH remains deeply committed to advancing public health through rigorous gold standard research and we are taking immediate steps to ensure the continuity of these studies,” the spokesperson said.

More than 160,000 women signed up to take part in WHI’s clinical studies in the mid-90s and there are more than 40,000 women who have taken part in the study initiative for decades.

WHI’s clinical studies have resulted in better treatment for women with conditions like cardiovascular disease and breast cancer.

 

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

 

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

 

Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

 

© The Hill