The study, called the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), was launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1991 to learn about women’s specific health needs since medical studies before then used mainly men.
WHI researchers at the initiative's four regional centers were notified this week that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be terminating their contracts in September.
The White House ordered HHS in early April to cut contract spending by 35 percent to make sure the department was using its funding efficiently.
But HHS’s decision to end the decades-old initiative's financial backing quickly received pushback from researchers and lawmakers alike.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted to X to say the reports of the initiative's funding freeze were “fake news” and that WHI would continue to be financed by the department.
“We are not terminating the study. NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has himself used this study in his own research. We all recognize that this project is mission critical for women’s health,” he wrote on X.
An HHS spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the department is currently working on restoring funding to the study so that its “essential research” not be interrupted.
“NIH remains deeply committed to advancing public health through rigorous gold standard research and we are taking immediate steps to ensure the continuity of these studies,” the spokesperson said.
More than 160,000 women signed up to take part in WHI’s clinical studies in the mid-90s and there are more than 40,000 women who have taken part in the study initiative for decades.
WHI’s clinical studies have resulted in better treatment for women with conditions like cardiovascular disease and breast cancer.
