Research and Women's Health: Why Your Vote Is Essential.

In this article the author presents his views on women's health and research. The author remarks that there is very little money allocated by the federal government for medical research on diseases specific to women. According to the author women are much more likely than men to make health a high priority. It is a fact that in American households women make three fourths of the healthcare decisions and spend almost two of every three healthcare dollars, over $600 billion annually. One of the reasons the conduct of basic research is so important is that we cannot know in advance what new findings from the bench or laboratory will lead to, or what individuals or category of individuals will ultimately receive the greatest benefit. Without basic research to lead scientists in new directions, there can be no innovation, for it is basic research that lays the foundations for all the new methods and clinical treatments developed. Advocates for women's health research made the dramatic progress of the 1990s possible, but advocates for women's health research must keep the pressure on into the next millennium.