THE POLITICS OF WOMENS HEALTH

This article begins by discussing the recent emergence in the United States of women's health as a major public policy issue. The central question posed in the article is, How can the public's and government's interest in women's health be used to maximize health benefits for all women? Two arenas of women's health, childbearing and heart disease, are explored to further our understand of the possible costs and benefits to women of being a priority within the national public policy agenda. Three factors are proposed as crucial for maximizing women's health benefits within the current health policy climate: (a) broadening the definition of health benefits, (b) involving more women in the process of determining the hierarchy of health needs, and (c) involving more women in both the research and clinical aspects of medicine.