The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently backed down from plans to cut funding for the Women’s Health Initiative research project after national outcry.
Last Monday, officials involved in the Women’s Health Initiative announced that the HHS informed them verbally that Regional Center contracts would be terminated this September. An email confirmation that the National Institute of Health approved promptly followed.
As more officials spoke out, however, about the impact this would have, an update from the HHS came that confirmed funding would continue, despite what was previously said. Funding for the WHI Clinical Coordinating Center, however, remains up in the air.
“These studies represent critical contributions to our better understanding of women’s health,” said a spokesperson per CNN. “While NIH initially exceeded its internal targets for contract reductions, we are now working to fully restore funding to these essential research efforts. 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.”
We sent a letter to the Trump admin demanding they stop attacking women’s health research.
— Democratic Women's Caucus (@DemWomenCaucus) April 25, 2025
Facing extreme backlash from women and researchers across America, they quietly restored funding for the Women’s Health Initiative.
This is a win for women. We will keep fighting.
Launched in 1992, the Women’s Health Initiative broke barriers as it was one of the first inclusive studies conducted on women’s health; generally, studies focused on men’s health. Now including over 160,000 women altogether, over 42,000 participants that were part of the original study and are now between 78 and 108 years old, still remain. Approximately 9% are also Black women.
The initiative helps gather data on a variety of health care issues that affect women, such as cancer rates, which Black women are disproportionately burdened with, serious health conditions in postmenopausal women, and overall physical activity, like sleep quality and the impact of exposure.
“WHI centers have become a source of invaluable data and drive research on treatments to address some of the most common health concerns for postmenopausal women, such as heart disease and breast cancer,” said the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. Stella Dantas, per a statement.
Although the Women’s Health Initiative will not have funding cut, a variety of health studies and intiatives’ futures still remain uncertain as grants have been terminated by the current administration as part of DOGE cuts. These grants include funding for research on mental health, substance abuse, emerging infectious diseases, vaccination and HIV care.
With these cuts, scientists warn that the impact could span across generations.
“When you’re talking about medical research, when you’re talking about people’s lives, when you’re talking about clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease or cancer that may take 3 or 4 years, you can’t just go in and decide, ‘I’m going to shut those down and maybe I’ll try something else.’ Those are people’s lives at risk,” said Dr. Francis Collins, the former agency director at NIH, per CBS News.
