This partnership between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Women and Gender Equality Canada will support research to improve health care and enhance health outcomes for women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse people
October 25, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario - Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadians are among the healthiest people in the world. Nonetheless, our health system has not always understood the factors which influence the health status of women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse communities, nor has it addressed their issues in relation to research, education, leadership, and health interventions.
Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, officially launched the National Women's Health Research Initiative (NWHRI), which is supported by an investment of $20 million over five years provided in Budget 2021. This initiative will confront persistent inequities in Canada's health research community and health system. It will drive research to enhance health outcomes, eliminate gaps in access to care, and improve the quality of care for women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse communities. This research will help ensure that everyone has access to evidence-based, gender-sensitive, culturally safe, and high-quality care and services across their lifespan.
The NWHRI is being delivered through a partnership between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE). As a first step, CIHR and WAGE are investing in a Pan-Canadian Women's Health Coalition. The Coalition will be composed of Canadian non-governmental organizations such as community organizations and regional health authorities, health care professionals, early career researchers and trainees, as well as Indigenous, Black, and racialized women, women with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and people with lived and living experience of navigating health issues affecting women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse communities. This inclusive and intersectional approach will provide critical insights and guide actions to tackle persistent gaps in health status and health care delivery and improve the health of the diversity of women in this country.
The Coalition will leverage the strengths of researchers across Canada. It will also benefit from the work that CIHR's Institute of Gender and Health has done to build capacity for research on sex and gender and to implement GBA+ policies in research and health policy.
