United States – On Wednesday, Jill Biden, was announcing $100 million federal funding into research and development women’s health as part of new White House initiative she is heading up.
ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health
The funding is the first significant accomplishment of the initiative taken by the White House on Women’s Health Research that was announced in December 2018. ARPA-H is under the Department of Health and Human Services. ARPA-H uses money coming from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.
The first lady was to unveil the ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health Wednesday during an event in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A Pledge to Transform Women’s Lives
According to Biden, women don’t know enough about their health since there has historically been a shortage of funding and quality studies. The goal of the White House project is to improve women’s health research funding and methodology.
“We will close the gaps, we will accelerate new ideas, and change women’s lives,” the first lady will say, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks that were shared with The Associated Press.
“We will build a health care system that puts women and their lived experiences at its center, one where no woman or girl has to hear that ‘it’s all in your head,’ or, ‘it’s just stress;’ where women aren’t just an after-thought, but a first-thought; and where women don’t just survive, they lead long, healthy, and happy lives,” she says.
ARPA-H and Biden’s Unity Agenda
In 2022, President Joe Biden established the Advanced Technologies Medicine Agency (ARPA-H) to focus on finding solutions to health problems. The agency is one of his major tasks under what he termed his “unity agenda.”
Public-Private Sector Collaboration
In the next few weeks, the agency will continuously seek significant research and development to work on women’s health based on the information from the White House, as reported by Associated Press.
The First Lady said last year, when the White House initiative was launched, that it stemmed from her meetings with Maria Shriver, a women’s health advocate and former California first lady. Biden reminded Shriver about the necessity of the cooperation between the public and the private sector to work towards bridging the gaps in women’s health research.
Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council lead the Women’s Health Research Initiative, as reported by Associated Press.