About the Office of Women's Health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the U.S. government agency that oversees most foods and medical products. Its job is to make sure that:

• food is safe, healthy, and clean
• medicines and medical devices are reasonably safe and effective
• cosmetic products are safe
• animal foods and drugs are safe
• food and medical products have proper labels

OWH Mission

To protect and advance the health of women through policy, science and outreach and to advocate for participation of women in clinical trials.

OWH Director

Kathleen Uhl, M.D., Assistant Commissioner for Women's Health
Phone: 301-827-0350
Fax: 301-827-0926

Reports

• Progress Report: "10 Years and Beyond" (March 2006)
• Protecting and Advancing the Health of Women, a Congressional Briefing by the OWH director (May 18, 2005)

OWH Web Site

The Office of Women's Health Web site, originally created in 1998, was most recently reorganized in Summer of 2006.

Other FDA Links

In its role as part of the Office of the Commissioner, the OWH supports and provides input to all FDA offices. The FDA is organized into centers that are responsible for different types of products, and most have programs and initiatives that support women's health. These centers include:

• Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
• Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
• Center for Devices and Radiological Health
• Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
• Center for Veterinary Medicine
• National Center for Toxicological Research