By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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MONDAY, April 28, 2025 (HealthDay News) \u2014 In a sudden about-face, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it won’t slash funding for the Women’s Health Initiative, a major research project focused on preventing disease in older women.<\/p>\n
The decision follows concerns about a move to end contracts supporting the whole study, which has tracked the health of tens of thousands of women since 1992.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese studies represent critical contributions to our better understanding of women\u2019s health,\u201d HHS said in a statement to CNN<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile NIH initially exceeded its internal targets for contract reductions, we are now working to fully restore funding to these essential research efforts,” the statement continued. “NIH remains deeply committed to advancing public health through rigorous gold standard research.\u201d<\/p>\n The Women’s Health Initiative, led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has made major discoveries over the years.<\/p>\n For example, it uncovered the risks of certain types of hormone therapy after menopause<\/a>, helping prevent an estimated 126,000 breast cancer<\/a> cases. It also found that vitamin D supplements do not help prevent bone loss.<\/p>\n Overall, the study has produced more than 2,400 scientific publications that have shaped clinical practices and public health policies.<\/p>\n HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> posted on social media that “we all recognize that this project is mission critical for women’s health.”<\/p>\n “We are not terminating this study,” the post said.<\/p>\n Experts said cutting the Women’s Health Initiative would have been a major loss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe already have serious gaps in women\u2019s health that need to be addressed,\u201d Dr. Stephanie Faubion<\/a>, director of the Mayo Clinic\u2019s Women’s Health Specialty Clinic and medical director for The Menopause Society, said to CNN.<\/em><\/p>\n The Trump administration has called chronic disease a priority, and experts say the Women’s Health Initiative plays a key role in that.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you compare a person to themselves over time, it allows you to much more definitively answer questions about the causes or the factors that contribute to the development of those kinds of diseases that we\u2019re all worried about, whether it\u2019s heart disease, cancer, dementia, diabetes, fractures, things like that,\u201d Rebecca Thurston<\/a>, a women\u2019s health researcher told CNN<\/em>. <\/p>\n For many years, women were thought of essentially as “small men when it came to many chronic diseases,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Women\u2019s Health Initiative, and subsequently other studies, have really underscored that things like cardiovascular disease, stroke, dementia and brain aging, they have unique features in women and unique contributors,\u201d Thurston said. “That means that we really have to study women specifically, that they\u2019re not interchangeable with men, and that women\u2019s health is more than bikini medicine.”<\/p>\n Dr. Stella Dantas<\/a>, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said the Women’s Health Initiative is a vital source of invaluable data.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to keep the science going,” she told CNN<\/em>. It\u2019s so important if we want to prevent heart disease, prevent cancer, keep our bones healthy, keep our brains healthy. We need to be doing this research.\u201d<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n Learn more about the Women’s Health Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n