National Strategy to Close the Women’s Health Gap

Released July 15, 2026

The Women First Research Coalition (WFRC), Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR), and the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) serve as the architects of a shared framework for measuring against a $20 billion, 10-year federal investment that will close the women’s health gap.
This is the women’s health moonshot.
Women comprise more than half the U.S. population, yet for decades their health needs across conditions and stages of life have been understudied and underserved.
This comprehensive, congressionally directed framework for women’s health offers a bipartisan needs-based path to better coordinate research, improve access to evidence-based care, and advance long-term prevention efforts. By advancing our understanding of women’s health and translating that knowledge into clinical practice and public health action, Congress can help improve health outcomes for women, families, and communities while reducing long-term health care costs and strengthening the nation’s economic productivity.
Our vision is to mobilize Congress to make a $20 billion, 10-year strategic commitment to close the women’s health gap.

Read The National Strategy

The National Strategy officially launched on July 15, 2026 at a press conference event on Capitol Hill.

Speakers at the press conference included Erika Miller, JD, with the Women First Research Coalition; Kathryn Schubert, MPP, CAE, President and CEO of SWHR; Dr. Sandra E. Brooks, MD, MBA, FACOG, CEO of ACOG; Dr. Cathy Spong, MD, FACOG; Dr. Vivian Pinn, MD, inaugural director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the NIH; and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.

Endorsing Organizations

Thank you to all of the organizations who have endorsed the National Strategy. To see a complete list of endorsing organizations, please view the SWHR National Strategy page here. 

Are you a national patient advocacy, medical professional society, or nonprofit advocacy organization interested in endorsing the National Strategy? Please fill out the endorsement form here.

Explore The National Strategy

This framework provides a pathway to ensure women’s health is prioritized and integrated rather than overlooked and underfunded; an actionable evidence base drives the next generation of discovery; regulatory policies nurture sex-specific innovation and value women’s health; health care professionals have the evidence they need for more timely and accurate diagnoses; and women enter the health care system knowing more about their own biology and have access to the individualized treatments they need.

Areas of the National Strategy include:

Research and Innovation

Regulatory Coordination and Modernization

Data and Evidence Infrastructure

Bolstering the Women’s Health Clinical and Research Workforce

Public Awareness and Education

Are you a national patient advocacy, medical professional society, or nonprofit advocacy organization interested in endorsing the National Strategy? Please fill out the endorsement form here.

Are you a member of the media interested in speaking with someone at SWHR, ACOG, or WFRC? Please reach out to communications@acog.org

Warner K. Huh

Warner K. Huh, MD, MSHA is Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and holds the Charles E. Flowers, Jr. Endowed Chair in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He is also Professor in the Department of Surgery and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the UAB School of Public Health. He was previously the Division Director of Gynecologic Oncology, Vice Chair of Gynecology, and Chief Medical Officer of the UAB Cancer Service Line/O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research interests include screening and prevention of HPV related diseases as well as novel immunotherapeutic approaches for pre-invasive disease of the cervix as well as cervical cancer. He has authored or co-authored over 300 articles in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Journal of the National Cancer Institute Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, Gynecologic Oncology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (h-index: 70). Dr. Huh serves as co-PI (MPI) of the Johns Hopkins-UAB-University of Colorado Cervical Cancer Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) program (2P50CA098252-06A1) – one of the most enduring SPORE programs in the NCI. Further, he is PI on a cervical cancer prevention R01 grant through the NCI (5R01CA279021). Dr. Huh serves as a Deputy Editor of Gynecologic Oncology and serves as an Associate Editor of The Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease. He is on the steering committee for the ASCCP treatment guidelines and was co-chair of the ASCCP colposcopy standards effort. He is Past President of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) and ASCCP. He is currently serves on the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) Division of Gynecologic Oncology. He recently completed the Executive Master of Science in Health Administration (MSHA) Program at UAB (2022-2024). He co-leads OPERATION WIPEOUT- the only state-based cervical cancer elimination effort in the United States.