The Trump administration has decided to restore funding for a major women’s health study after earlier announcing budget cuts. The move was welcomed by scientists, who said the research is vital for understanding how aging affects women’s health.
Officials had previously planned to cut contracts with four research centers across the U.S., sparking public concern.
A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Andrew Nixon, said the funding cut had come after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) “initially exceeded its internal targets for contract reductions.”
Nixon said the department is now “working to fully restore funding” for the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), calling it essential for advancing medical research.
The decision followed a report by NPR that revealed plans to end support for the WHI, a study that began in the 1990s and still follows over 40,000 women.
Researchers were relieved by the news. Dr. Jean Wactawski-Wende from the University at Buffalo said the study is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to explore how women age and what affects their health.
Dr. JoAnn Manson from Harvard Medical School called the reversal “absolutely wonderful news,” adding that the WHI still has much to contribute to women’s and older adults’ health.
The WHI study has already led to major findings. One discovery showed that starting hormone therapy during menopause doesn’t protect the heart, challenging a long-standing belief.
The study also tracks how lifestyle, medication, and chronic diseases affect women over time. Data from more than 160,000 women have helped doctors better understand heart disease, cancer, dementia, and more.
The original plan would have ended contracts with WHI centers in California, New York, Ohio, and North Carolina. That would have stopped researchers from collecting new data and following the study’s volunteers.
Although the project’s main center in Seattle would have remained open through January, its future beyond that was uncertain.
Experts were surprised the cuts were even considered, especially since the administration had promised to prioritize chronic disease research.
Dr. Marian Neuhouser of the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, who chairs the WHI steering committee, said, “We would be thrilled if the news were true,” and called the study “groundbreaking.”
Launched because most earlier research focused on men, the WHI was designed to fill in knowledge gaps about women’s health. Without it, many critical questions might still go unanswered.
Now, with funding likely to be restored, researchers hope to continue learning how to keep women healthier as they age.
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