The White House has a new plan for women’s health. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is helping lead it. We, too, have follow-up questions.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday calling for a Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health within 90 days, plus a White House task force co-chaired by Kennedy and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Fierce Healthcare reports.
The premise is overdue: Conditions affecting women have not received enough research or clinical attention. Women who have spent years trying to get their symptoms taken seriously may recognize this groundbreaking discovery.
The division will coordinate research, support better diagnosis and treatment, and increase women’s inclusion in clinical trials, working alongside the existing Office of Research on Women’s Health.
Those are meaningful goals. The fine print deserves attention, though: The order specifies no new research funding amount, makes implementation subject to available appropriations, and revokes two Biden-era women’s health initiatives.
More research? Yes, please. But a new division and a task force are the opening paperwork. The test is whether women get answers, treatment and a shorter journey from “something’s wrong” to someone believing them.