DURHAM, N.C. — First lady Jill Biden visited Durham on Wednesday to announce provisions made in an executive order President Joe Biden issued Monday aimed at advancing women’s health research in light of Women’s History Month.
Biden began her remarks by drawing attention to women’s health research of the past, which she said was often neglected.
“Women’s health research is overlooked and underfunded, and medical studies have often left out women,” Biden said. “And too many of our medications, treatments and our medical school textbooks are based on men.”
Biden said the symptoms of a heart attack vary between men and women and are often unrecognized in women due to a lack of research.
“We simply don’t know about how to prevent, detect and treat the conditions that only affect women, affect women more than men or affect women differently than men,” Biden said.
Gov. Roy Cooper, who also spoke at the event, said the disparities between men’s and women’s healthcare are only amplified when regarding women of color.
“We’ve identified the disparities and the barriers that women often face, and we’ve mentioned they are especially stark for women of color and women who have been historically marginalized,” Cooper said. “For example, Black women experienced almost twice the maternal mortality as white women, and tackling this disparity will be even more challenging with the legislature’s attacks on women’s choice and reproductive freedom.”
Cooper said his administration has contributed to these efforts, as he enacted executive orders to ensure paid parental leave and to make it easier for women to work while pregnant.
Biden said her husband is the first president to make women’s health research a top White House priority with the administration’s launch of the first White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research in November.
In the executive order, the Biden administration allocated $200 million to women’s health research at the National Institutes of Health. The president also called on Congress to invest $12 billion into women’s health research in his State of the Union address.
Biden said the Research Triangle Park, where she delivered her remarks, is essential to women’s health research, with the large presence of scientific research centers and medical research being done at universities in the area.
“As the Research Triangle continues to grow, I encourage you to harness that same spirit of discovery — the ambition — and take on the next great healthcare challenge of our time finding innovative solutions in women’s health,” Biden said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Biden said the Triangle will greatly benefit from the administration’s investment in women’s health research, as FemTech investment is on the rise. She said in 2021, the women’s health market was estimated to be worth $9 billion, and the Boston Consulting Group estimates the industry will be worth $29 billion in eight years.
“Women’s health is having a big moment,” Biden said. “And with President Biden’s investments in women’s health research, I know the Research Triangle can lead the way. Not only will your universities, businesses and community benefit from it, but so will millions of women across North Carolina and the United States.”
Biden said this is only the beginning of the initiative.
“Together we can write a new future for healthcare, a future where women leave doctors’ offices with more answers than questions,” Biden said. “Where no woman or girl has to hear that, ‘Oh, it’s all in your head,’ or ‘It’s just stress,’ where women are just an afterthought in a world designed for men. But the first one in a world designed for everyone.”
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden talks to the crowd during First Lady Dr. Jill Biden's visit to Durham, North Carolina at Research Triangle Park on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. During the First Lady's visit, she highlighted the Biden Administration’s actions on women’s health research.
