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Health Policy
Advocacy News
Meeting with CIBR (June 24, 2010)
On June 24, the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) co-sponsored a Capitol Hill event with the Coalition for Imaging & Bioengineering Research (CIBR) and Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY). The event was of great interest to Hill staff, which began with opening remarks from Representative Towns and former Majority Leader Dick Gephardt.
SWHR, a member of CIBR, brought a unique patient voice to the event, highlighting innovations from approximately 13 different medical technology companies. SWHR explained to Hill staff the key role that diagnostic imaging has in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, especially for women.
CIBR was created in 2006, to be a diverse and unified voice in support of imaging research. SWHR supports CIBR and its work to improve imaging research, outcomes, and safety for patients while appropriately utilizing medical imaging.
To see more information, please visit www.CIBR.org.
Meeting with Sebelius (June 9, 2010)
Phyllis Greenberger, SWHR President and CEO, and Martha Nolan, Vice President, Public Policy met with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Dora Hughes, HHS Counselor for Public Health and Science Policy to discuss SWHR’s 20 years of work to improve women’s health: the inclusion of women in clinical trials, sex differences research, and SWHR advocacy efforts. Some of these efforts include comparative effectiveness research (CER) as part of the stimulus bill, Women’s Health Office Act (WHOA) in health care reform, and the appropriate use imaging and diagnostic tools for prevention and early diagnoses.
The Secretary was interested in SWHR’s information regarding women in clinical trials and surprised that sex still is not a fundamental component of all research in the development of drugs, devices and biologics. The Secretary understood how important SWHR’s issues were to determinations being made under comparative effectiveness research, especially with the newly developing Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The Secretary was informed of SWHR’s testimony, both written and oral, to the NIH/FDA last week regarding the need for consideration of sex differences in “regulatory science,” the newly coined term from the NIH/FDA collaborative.
SWHR Advocacy Priorities
- Supporting the permanent authorization of women’s health offices at government agencies.
- Working with the FDA to ensure that drugs are properly studied to determine if they have different effects on women and men.
- Holding Congressional Briefings on important women's health issues.
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SWHR Priority Issues
Women’s Health Research Coalition (WHRC) Advocacy network of leaders at academic medical, health and scientific institutions and other supportive organizations, united to encourage coordination and funding for women's health research.
WHRC membership includes: a monthly Hotline Newsletter and invitations to advocacy events such as Congressional briefings. READ MORE
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