Definition: Women's Health Issues

The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) is a non-profit organization in the United States whose mission is to improve the health of all women through research, education and advocacy. Founded in 1990, SWHR brought to national attention the need for the appropriate inclusion of women in major medical research studies and the need for more information about conditions affecting women exclusively, predominantly, or differently than men.

Based in Washington, D.C., SWHR advocates for greater public and private funding for women’s health research and the study of sex differences that affect the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. SWHR also promotes the appropriate inclusion of women in medical research studies; promotes the analysis of research data for sex differences; and informs women, health care providers, and policy makers about contemporary women’s health issues through media outreach and periodic briefings, conferences and special events.

History

SWHR was founded in 1990 by a group of physicians, medical researchers and health advocates who wanted to bring attention to the myriad of diseases and conditions that affect women uniquely. Women’s health, until then, had been defined primarily as reproductive health. Women were not routinely included in most major medical research studies and scientists rarely examined how the symptoms, diagnosis, progression, and treatment of diseases, such as heart disease and lung cancer, might be different for women.

From its inception, SWHR effectively lobbied Congress, leading to a series of Government Accountability Office (GAO, which stood for General Accounting Office until July 2004) reports, legislation and administrative changes at federal agencies to improve women’s health research. Key developments included:

At the National Institutes of Health

* A 1990 GAO report found NIH failed to implement 1986 policies, which had urged inclusion of women in clinical research and analysis of results by sex.
* Later in 1990, the NIH implemented requirements for the inclusion of women in clinical research and established the Office of Research in Women’s Health.
* The NIH Revitalization Act became law in 1993, requiring inclusion of women in all clinical research and analysis of results by sex for Phase III clinical trials.

Public Education

The communications department manages SWHR’s outreach and education efforts for the general public, which include media outreach, periodic public education campaigns, a Web site (www.womenshealthresearch.org), print and electronic newsletters, a biweekly news service distributed to the media for their free use, and special events, including conferences for consumers.

SWHR’s public education campaigns cover a wide range of topics from lung cancer to clinical trials participation to health literacy. The campaigns use varying methods to reach the public, including media outreach, Web sites, print materials, and public service announcements.

Since 2003, SWHR has annually presented the “Excellence in Women’s Health Research Journalism Awards” to honor journalists who excel in providing the public with valuable health research information. The awards aim to encourage media coverage of medical research findings that is accurate and appropriately represented.

In January 2006, SWHR published its first book for consumers, “The Savvy Women Patient: How and Why Sex Differences Impact Your Health.” The book is a guide to health problems and treatments unique to women of all ages and focuses on how women’s health differs from men’s.

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