Kelly Baden

I want always to applaud any advancement in Women's Health by our nation's government. Our government spends less than 10% of its NIH budget on women’s health research, a sad fact, but one a president can change. Today, First Lady Melania Trump joined the legions of advocates, activists, and doctors who have been aggressively pushing to change how our government looks at and funds women’s health research and care. When First Ladies get involved in an issue, it can change the issue. We saw that when First Lady Dr. Jill Biden joined forces with her husband, President Biden, and launched the White House initiative on Women's Health Research in 2024. I was proud to be a part of that initiative and we saw an explosion of interest in the space. It is unclear whether this new office will change this lack of funding, but I hope it will build on President Biden’s work advancing financial investments into the field, while also ensuring the necessary funding called for recently by the National Strategy to Close the Women’s Health Gap, an initiative backed by nearly 80 leading organizations, which calls for a $20 billion investment to improve women’s health throughout the federal health care system. It’s unclear to me what exactly this initiative will do, but as a woman’s health advocate, it’s always important when a First Lady shows her interest in a cause. So welcome to the fight, Mrs. Trump. We need you. The women of this country need help, as do the doctors, researchers and scientists who are trying to find cures for Women's Health. I hope you will advocate for an increase in funding so that scientists and researchers can give us the answers we need. This is a non-partisan issue and it’s an immediate issue. We need everyone in this fight, women and men of all parties, all ages. It’s going to take all of us to recitfy the discrepancies in health care funding We are ready for change.