Office of Women's Health

Core Principles

• Women’s health spans every stage of a woman’s life – preadolescence through adolescence, reproductive, midlife, and mature years.  It involves physical and mental health, personal and environmental safety, as well as the prevention and treatment of disease.
• Women’s health expands beyond the concept of childbearing. It encompasses the prevention of health problems and the assurance of high quality health care to  improve the quality of years of life for all women.
• Disparities in health care and services for women can be identified by using current surveillance and research data about women’s health to guide policy development and program planning.
• Women’s health can be enhanced by fostering partnerships, collaborations, and building bridges between health providers, consumers, health advocates, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders.

Legislative Charge

The Office of Women’s Health was funded by the General Assembly in August 2001 and charged with the responsibility to:

• Develop plans and policies for the improvement of the health status of women,
• Research women’s health programs, policies and best practices,
• Collect and analyze data, and prepare written/oral reports,
• Research funding resources and develop funding requests and proposals,
• Provide technical assistance to programs serving women’s health needs.