Where the money went: women's health research funding 2013 to 2023
· MEREN Editorial · 6 min read
Women were not required to be included in federally funded clinical research in the United States until the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993. Three decades later the inclusion problem is largely solved on paper, while the funding problem is not. A small share of the National Institutes of Health budget is directed to research where women's health is the primary focus.
The decade in numbers
Across the decade, conditions that affect women disproportionately, including endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and the menopause transition, received funding far below their disease burden. Reviews of the portfolio have repeatedly found that sex-specific analysis is often not reported even when both sexes are enrolled, which limits what any of that spending can tell a clinician about a specific woman.
What changes next
A 2024 National Academies report called for dedicated funding lines, mandatory reporting of results by sex, and coordinated cross-institute strategy rather than distributed responsibility. The practical test is whether new money produces trials that are powered to answer questions about women, not trials that include women and then pool the results.
Sources
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Advancing Research on Chronic Conditions in Women, 2024
- NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, Report of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health
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