Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) reduce the sex and gender gap in participants for (i) healthcare research and (ii) clinical trials and (b) ensure that sex and gender dimensions are accounted for in the development of medical (A) treatments and (B) interventions.

The Department funds health and care research primarily through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has made research inclusion a condition of its funding. Applicants to domestic research programmes are required to demonstrate how inclusion is being built into all stages of the research lifecycle, with significant emphasis on how participant selection is considered. Before the end of March 2026, this will also be required for global health research and infrastructure awards.

The NIHR is developing a sex and gender policy to be implemented subsequently in 2025, to ensure that NIHR research accounts for sex and gender across every stage of the research cycle, allowing for a greater understanding of how men and women might be impacted differently by the same health condition, treatment, or intervention.

The Department is also developing a new research and development innovation strategy to accelerate the development of equitable, transformational medical technology solutions. Part of the aims of this work are to eliminate sex bias in medical technology research and development, ensuring that innovations are effective and accessible for all.