[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 10, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4863-S4864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       WOMEN'S HEALTH OFFICE ACT

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, this is National Women's Health Week, and 
it is certainly fitting to take stock of both our successes in 
promoting women's health while looking at the challenges ahead.
  Historically, women's health care needs have been poorly understood. 
While the obvious differences between the sexes are indisputable, it 
was assumed that those differences had limited implications, resulting 
in women being systematically excluded from health research studies. 
Too often, only men were studied and considered the health care 
``norm'' for both genders.
  Of course, for a few diseases such as ovarian or breast cancer, the 
study of women was an absolute requirement. However, for so many 
others, women were excluded. Sometimes we heard that it would cost more 
to include women in trials because more participants would need to be 
enrolled--since research results would need to be analyzed separately 
for both men and women. That certainly sounds like a recognition that 
men and women can differ quite substantially.
  As researchers have looked, they have found so many times where a 
single difference between the sexes has so many other ramifications for 
health and disease. For example, because every child is genetically 
unique and different from both parents, childbearing requires the 
ability of a woman to have periods of lowered immunity in her 
reproductive tract. This is also a major contributor to her 
susceptibility to gynecologic infections, and it helps explain why 
women are much more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases. This 
is critical knowledge when one is trying to protect women from HIV and 
that knowledge simply must be reflected in strategies for protecting 
women.
  Remember that men and women differ genetically--that was obvious from 
our earliest study of genetics . . . an entire chromosome is different. 
As we learn more about the human genome, and how genes interact, we 
doubtless will discover more differences which must be reflected in 
health decisions. There can be no doubt that whenever we fail to see 
women properly represented in health research, we risk causing major 
harm. One recent example is so notable.
  When one federally funded study examined the ability of aspirin to 
prevent heart attacks in 20,000 medical doctors, all of whom were men, 
physicians were left to assume that the protective effect may apply to 
women as well. So for years physicians have been left to assume that 
aspirin had the same effect in women but we simply didn't know. Yet we 
do know that the pattern of heart disease in women is different than in 
men. Heart disease develops a bit later about 10 years later. Despite 
this, heart disease kills more women than men, more than either breast 
or ovarian cancer! So in March of this year when we finally learned 
that aspirin does not have the same effect in women as in men, we saw 
more evidence that assuming there is no difference between men and 
women is no substitute for conducting proper research.

[[Page S4864]]

  Sex differences in health are so numerous. Osteoporosis is far more 
common in women--as is depression. While women have the ability to 
modulate our immunity to bear a child, it is ironic that we suffer far 
more autoimmune disease than men. For example, 9 of 10 lupus sufferers 
are women! Drugs and alcohol affect us differently from men as well 
even a woman's response to anesthesia is different than a man's. So one 
can see it is a critical problem when we fail to discover such 
differences. It compromises the quality of health care for more than 
half of all Americans!
  Many of us have worked for years to achieve equal representation of 
women in health research. Since 1990 when the Society for Women's 
Health Research was founded, we have had a voice to help us in our 
effort to promote the inclusion of women in health care research, and 
to educate all of us about sex differences in health and disease. The 
Society is to be commended for its tireless efforts to increase our 
understanding of sex differences.
  Today we know that equity does not yet exist in health care, and we 
have a long way to go. Progress has been made--we have seen an Office 
of Women's Health established at the NIH, and the research at the 
Institutes has reflected that representation. In fact, we see that not 
only women but also children and minorities are being better 
represented in health research today.
  I introduced the Women's Health Office Act to help address the sex-
based disparities in research and policy. This legislation provides 
permanent authorization for offices of women's health in five Federal 
agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services; the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention; the Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality; the Health Resources and Services Administration; and the Food 
and Drug Administration. Currently, only two women's health offices in 
the Federal Government have statutory authorization: the Office of 
Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health and the 
Office for Women's Services within the Substance Abuse and Mental 
Health Services Administration.
  With some offices established, but not authorized, the needs of women 
could be compromised without the consent of Congress. We must create 
statutory authority for these offices, to ensure that health policy 
flows from fact, not assumption. Improving the health of American women 
requires a far greater understanding of women's health needs and 
conditions, and ongoing evaluation in the areas of research, education, 
prevention, treatment and the delivery of services and passage of this 
legislation will help ensure that.
  I call on my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation, 
which will ensure better health for our mothers, our sisters, our 
daughters, here and abroad.
  Thank you, Mr. President.

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