Trump creates new women’s health division within NIH

President Trump signed an executive order Monday to bolster federal research surrounding women’s health, crediting first lady Melania Trump for pushing the issue.

The order established the Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House Women’s Health Task Force.

The task force will be led by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Melania Trump, who introduced the order from the White House’s Rose Garden ahead of her husband, said it “establishes a new standard for women’s health in America.”

She said the first task force meeting will take place later Monday.

“Our mission must serve women at every stage of life, from young girls just starting out, to mothers dealing with a complex range of responsibilities, to mature women who deserve to have vitality, dignity and independence,” she said.

The creation of the task force is to ensure that the federal government “pursues a comprehensive approach to women’s health,” a fact sheet from the White House said.

It says that more research is needed in parts of women’s health like Alzheimer’s disease, endometriosis, polyendocrine metabolic ovary syndrome, infertility, maternal health and menopause.

“Today we’re taking historic action to promote women’s health through all phases of life, despite amazing advances in medical science, many diseases and conditions that disproportionately affect women remain chronically understudied,” President Trump said.

The initiative will “promote new research and really go after the understudied diseases affecting women and promote innovative technologies to diagnose conditions sooner and improve treatment using the best available science,” he added.

USA Today reported that the order came after the first lady set up several meetings with physicians and other experts to understand what was needed in women’s health.