NIH Cancels Women’s Health Initiative

The Department of Health and Human Services announced it is ending its first and largest project on the health of women as of the end of this fiscal year.

Under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health, which is part of HHS, the Women’s Health Initiative has spanned more than 30 years so far. Tens of thousands of participants have been in clinical trials of hormones and other medications. Many more thousands took part in tracking of their health. Findings have substantially affected health care.

The initiative was expected to bring new insights into cognitive decline,  healthy aging, and how to manage chronic health issues in the most elderly.

Garnet Anderson, a biostatistician who runs the WHI coordinating center, said “This was really meant as a makeup project for women, because women have been excluded from research for so many years.” For example, until recent years the effect of aspirin in regard to heart disease was studied only in men. Results were assumed to apply to women also. When studies got around to including women, it turned out the effect is not the same.

The annual WHI budget is $10 million, a drop in the bucket of federal spending.

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