Young, Beatty Introduce Bill to Enhance Minority and Women Representation in Medical Research

Press Release

Iowa Congressman David Young has joined Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty to introduce the Enhancing Minority and Women Representation in NIH Medical Research Act (H.R. 6224), legislation that would instruct the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to collect additional data to better evaluate progress in reducing health disparities, encourage coordination between the Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health to reduce health disparities, as well as ensure basic research projects better consider relevant biological variables between men and women.

Although current federal law requires the NIH to have minority and women participation in clinical trial research, diversity in clinical trials is still lacking. For example, African-American men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as white men, yet they represent merely four percent of prostate cancer clinical trial participants. In addition, heart disease kills roughly one in three women each year, but only 24 percent of participants in all heart-related studies are women.

"Accurate clinical research is integral when developing treatments to address some of the most devastating diseases and medical conditions folks across the country face," Congressman Young said. "This bipartisan legislation ensures clinical trials are representative of how different medical issues affect our diverse nation, and it is a necessary step to ensure our researchers at NIH have data inclusive of all Americans. I'm glad to join my colleague Congresswoman Beatty in working to move this important legislation forward."

"Clinical trials offer hope to millions living with chronic disease, illness and disability," Congresswoman Beatty said. "It is imperative that clinical trials - which have the potential to lead to the development of lifesaving treatments - better reflect our diverse nation. We must do everything in our power to better understand and reduce the health disparities that exist for African-Americans and women."

As Iowa's only member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Young supported legislation which provided for $32 billion in funding for the NIH for fiscal year 2016, including over $279 million in funding for minority health and health disparities research through the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. For fiscal year 2017, Congressman Young supported legislation providing for $33.3 billion in NIH funding, including over $286 million in funding for minority health and health disparities research through the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

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