The early 1990s were a watershed moment for female health. In 1990, the Office of Research on Women’s Health was founded within the National Institutes of Health to ensure women were included in medical research. A year later, an Office on Women’s Health was established within the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate research, education, and resources. The Women’s Health Initiative — one of the largest studies of women’s health — was launched. And in 1994, the Food and Drug Administration established its own Office of Women’s Health to test the safety of FDA-approved medications, which until then had no specific requirements for including women in studies.
From increasing uptake of screening mammograms to conducting research that led to the Violence Against Women Act, the impact of these programs on women’s health and wellness is hard to overstate, though disparities in funding and research continue; substantial NIH funding was not specifically allocated to women’s health research until 2024.
