Days after the Department of Health and Human Services canceled contracts for an historic women-focused health initiative, the agency appears to have reversed itself and is restoring funding.
“These studies represent critical contributions to our better understanding of women’s health,” Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, told NPR.
The National Institutes of Health launched the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) in 1991 and more than 161,000 women participated in early studies. Some 42,000 women aged 78 to 108 are currently enrolled in WHI research and have been involved with the project for decades.
WHI is led by Seattle’s Fred Hutch Cancer Center and includes four regional centers: Stanford University, University of Buffalo, Ohio State University and Wake Forest University in North Carolina. The centers learned a week ago their contracts would end in September, and Fred Hutch could continue operations until January 2026, “after which time its funding remains uncertain,” the WHI said.