NIH is committed to advancing women’s health through robust, transparent, and accountable scientific investment. Beginning with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 reporting cycle, NIH has updated its annual categorical information with actual spending data and has converted the NIH Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) reporting methodology for the Women’s Health Research category from manual coding to automated coding. This action aims to enhance accuracy and consistency in reporting and to better distinguish research focused on improving the health of women across the lifespan.

With the previous manual method, some projects were included that did not directly focus on women’s health outcomes. The new automated system ensures a more precise reflection of research efforts and thereby supports more effective use of taxpayer dollars. Although the updated methodology may appear to show a decrease in reported funding from FY23 to FY24, overall NIH funding for women’s health research has not changed. NIH remains committed to supporting women’s health research, and the change will ultimately enhance NIH’s ability to track progress of the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women. The shift simply provides a clearer and more accurate representation of NIH’s sustained investment in this critical area.

For detailed information about the categories added and the categories renamed in FY24, see New FY 2024 NIH Categorical Spending Data Available, Including an Updated Women’s Health Research Category to Improve Accuracy and Consistency.