Title: A resolution expressing support for viewing women's health as a critical issue for the economy and workforce of the United States and for advancing the health and well-being of all people.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution recognizes that women's health is a critical issue for the U.S. economy and workforce and supports increased health research focused on women.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 637 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 637

 Expressing support for viewing women's health as a critical issue for 
 the economy and workforce of the United States and for advancing the 
                  health and well-being of all people.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2022

Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Markey, Mr. Brown, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. 
 King, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Warren, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Lujan, 
 and Ms. Rosen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
       to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing support for viewing women's health as a critical issue for 
 the economy and workforce of the United States and for advancing the 
                  health and well-being of all people.

Whereas women constitute 50.8 percent of United States citizens and nearly \1/2\ 
        of the workforce in the United States;
Whereas women control 60 percent of personal wealth and are responsible for 85 
        percent of consumer spending and 80 percent of health care decisions;
Whereas, across races, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, disability statuses, 
        and age groups--

    (1) women experience many diseases and disorders differently than men;

    (2) the incidence, prevalence, symptomology, and severity of disease 
may differ between men and women;

    (3) women vary in the risks of certain diseases and the benefits of 
medical therapies; and

    (4) for many years, women were underrepresented in biomedical and 
clinical research;

Whereas longer life spans of women require the need for research on the health 
        of older women;
Whereas women and men have fundamental biological differences at the cellular 
        level;
Whereas \2/3\ of patients with Alzheimer's disease are women;
Whereas heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, and women are 50 
        percent more likely to die the year following a heart attack than men;
Whereas 80 percent of patients with autoimmune diseases are women;
Whereas women have more stroke events and are less likely to recover from such 
        events than men;
Whereas there are significant sex and age differences between men and women with 
        respect to drug administration and dosage;
Whereas older women are more prone to having multiple medical problems and, as a 
        result, may be taking incorrectly prescribed medications due to lack of 
        information on gender and age differences;
Whereas, on January 25, 2016, the National Institutes of Health implemented a 
        policy requiring federally funded investigators to consider sex as a 
        biological variable in preclinical research;
Whereas such policy has improved inclusivity in women's health research, but 
        disparities still remain;
Whereas the 2021 report entitled ``The Case to Fund Women's Health Research: An 
        Economic and Societal Impact Analysis'', published by Women's Health 
        Access Matters (commonly known as the ``WHAM Report''), states that in 
        2019, of the funding provided by the National Institutes of Health, 12 
        percent of the funding for Alzheimer's research, 4.5 percent of the 
        funding for coronary artery disease research, and 7 percent of the 
        funding for rheumatoid arthritis research focused on women;
Whereas this research gap has had economic consequences, including--

    (1) pushing women out of the workforce to care for their own health or 
to act as caregivers; and

    (2) contributing to increased costs of health care because of delays in 
care;

Whereas the improvement of women's health relies on sex- and gender-based 
        biomedical and clinical research;
Whereas the promise of personalized medicine cannot be realized without sex- and 
        gender-based parity in research;
Whereas the WHAM Report states that small investments in women's health research 
        will bring larger returns to the economy and add productive years to the 
        workforce of the United States; and
Whereas the WHAM Report shows that doubling current funding focused on women 
        across Alzheimer's disease, coronary artery disease, and rheumatoid 
        arthritis is a $300,000,000 investment that would return over 
        $13,000,000,000 to the economy of the United States: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses support for viewing women's health as a 
        critical issue for the economy and workforce of the United 
        States and for advancing the health and well-being of all 
        people; and
            (2) supports efforts--
                    (A) to increase health research focused on women, 
                particularly for diseases that differentially and 
                disproportionately affect women;
                    (B) to double the current share of women's research 
                focused on Alzheimer's disease (12 percent), coronary 
                artery disease (4.5 percent), and rheumatoid arthritis 
                (7 percent), which the 2021 report entitled ``The Case 
                to Fund Women's Health Research: An Economic and 
                Societal Impact Analysis'', published by Women's Health 
                Access Matters shows is a $300,000,000 investment that 
                will yield $13,000,000,000 in economic returns;
                    (C) to increase awareness of the value of sex- and 
                gender-based biomedical research, including the 
                benefits to the economy and workforce of the United 
                States of accelerating health research focused on 
                women; and
                    (D) to encourage individuals, including 
                researchers, doctors, and patients, to advocate for 
                sex- and gender-inclusive research across races, 
                ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, disabilities, and 
                age groups.
                                 <all>