(New York) The Pentagon will dedicate $500 million a year to research into women’s health, first lady Jill Biden announced Monday, as part of a broader push by the White House on the issue.
“The Defense Department has committed to dedicating half a billion dollars to women’s health,” she said at a conference hosted by the Clinton Foundation, adding that the research, which should focus primarily on women employed by the Pentagon, would benefit “all women.”
The funds will go to research on “osteoarthritis, chronic fatigue, cardiovascular disorders,” added the 73-year-old first lady, questioned on stage by Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the investment was vital to meeting the health needs of the women in its care: 230,000 current employees, two million military retirees and their families.
“Compared to men, this population observes a rate at least twice as high of hematological, genitourinary, endocrine, nutritional or immunological disorders,” it is explained.
Research on women’s health, which for example was often not included in clinical trials until a 1993 law that restricted laboratories receiving government grants, has long been neglected by public authorities in the United States.
In March, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing his administration to make women’s health research a priority.
He had called on the US Congress to release $12 billion to create a fund dedicated to research on women’s health within the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH), with an investment of $200 million planned for the 2025 fiscal year.