President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing the National Institutes of Health to establish a Women’s Health Division within 90 days, creating a new federal structure for research on conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women.
The Oct. 19 order calls for more research and faster movement of scientific findings into prevention, diagnosis and treatment. It specifically names maternal health, uterine fibroids, heart disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, endometriosis, infertility, menopause and mental health among the areas needing greater attention.
The division will work with NIH’s existing Office of Research on Women’s Health. Its duties include improving the inclusion of women and girls in clinical trials, studying sex-specific health outcomes, strengthening accountability for grant recipients and expanding collaboration across medical disciplines.
The order also establishes a White House Women’s Health Task Force co-chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The group will coordinate work across agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Veterans Affairs and Environmental Protection Agency.
The announcement carries particular significance for Black women, who continue to experience some of the nation’s sharpest health disparities. The CDC’s final 2024 data show a maternal mortality rate of 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births among non-Hispanic Black women. That was more than three times the rate for non-Hispanic White women, which was 14.2.
Black women are also more likely than White women to die from breast cancer, according to the CDC, and research has documented earlier onset and more severe disease among Black patients with uterine fibroids. Those gaps make the division’s eventual research priorities, grant decisions and community partnerships especially important.
The order does not guarantee a new level of funding. It states that implementation is subject to available congressional appropriations, meaning the division’s practical reach will depend on future budgets and agency decisions.
The order also revokes a 2024 executive order issued by former President Joe Biden on women’s health research. The administration says the new approach will place greater emphasis on translating research into clinical care across every stage of life.
Reuters reported that the initiative was announced during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and that the task force was scheduled to hold its first meeting Monday.
