HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — In March, the Biden Administration signed an executive order to provide more funding for women’s health research.
ABC Action News is investigating how that money will benefit local doctors and women in the Tampa Bay area.
We spoke to several doctors who said women’s health has been under-researched and underfunded for decades. They said this money will help reshape the future of healthcare for women and hopefully save lives.
“It’s going to make a huge impact on all of women’s health," said Dr. Megan Tirone, the Chief Medical Officer at St. Joseph's Women's and Children’s Hospital. "Not just a place like a women’s hospital, but medicine in general.”
Dr. Tirone said the $12 billion in federal funding is a step in the right direction for women.
Dr. Daniela Crousillat, Director of the Women's Heart Program at the University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital, explained that women are underrepresented in clinical trials and research.
“We particularly see this among the cardiology clinical research where women really account for only 20% or 3% of people who are included in clinical trials,” Dr. Crousillat said.
She explained that this leads to a lack of treatment and solutions for so many women. Dr. Crousillat said heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, but that is just one of the many diseases that disproportionally impact the female population.
Both doctors said this money will allow researchers to further test and study how certain diseases impact different women. They will then be able to better prevent, diagnose and treat a range of diseases.
“We know for many years we’ve made strides, but there is a lot of work to do,” Dr. Tirone said.
The doctors explained that research is a long game, so it will be several years before we see any results.
