Threats to Women and Children's Health in America

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2:41Carol Massar:Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio. It is time now for the Bloomberg Businessweek Women's Health segment, where we focus on key issues in developing technologies that are impacting the present and future of women's health around the world. On that, over the summer, we saw the Gates Foundation announce a$2.5 billion commitment through 2030 to accelerate R &D focused exclusively on women's health. And then earlier this month, Melinda Gates announced a new partnership that will commit $100 million to accelerate women's health research.

3:20Carol Massar:She's focusing on areas of women's health with the highest rates of mortality. That includes autoimmune disease, mental health, and cardiovascular health. So we've got a great guest to talk about all of this. We've got Dr. Susan J. Blumenthal joining us. She's retired Rear Admiral, former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General, and the first ever Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women's Health. She's also a visiting professor with the MIT Media Lab. She joins us from Washington, D.C. this afternoon. Dr. Blumenthal, Carol just mentioned some of the money that's going to women's health issues around the globe.

3:51Carol Massar:I think I know the answer to this question before I even ask it. Is it enough? Well, no, but it's excellent that new investments and innovations are coming to bear on women's health. Women represent 51 percent of the population. They make 80 percent of the health care decisions, but their health has been traditionally, you know, underfunded and under innovated. And so we hope to turn the page here in the 21st century. Are you hopeful that that actually happens? Because I feel like this is, right, we laugh, but it's not even, I think about it, not funny. Women's issues have been underfunded, undercovered.

4:31Carol Massar:I have doctors in the family, both women, we talk about this. They see it. We see it. I see it. I have a daughter. It's just when it comes to women's health issues, it just feels like they have been ignored for a long time. Well, let's kind of backtrack. Let me tell you a story about how we got involved with women's health. I mean, when I was a child, my mother had cancer, and I decided to become a doctor. No other woman should have to suffer the way she did. I was very honored to work at the National Institutes of Health for 12 years, and there helped to expose the inequities that existed, that women had been excluded from research studies on heart disease, on AIDS, on lung cancer.

5:15Sex matters, we all know that, but in the conduct of research and the delivery of health care services, women had been excluded as a target, as a focus. So as the first deputy assistant secretary for women's health, we really shown a spotlight on these issues. We wove a focus on women's health into the fabric of NIH, CDC, FDA, because then there were no women's health conferences, there were no reports, there were no fellowships, and there were no centers. And so the study of women's health and sex differences became a forefront issue in the in the 90s, but then got mainstreamed. And I think, you know, there were still so many other issues that needed to be addressed.

5:57We built the infrastructure, but the innovation, you know, needed to to continue. And that's what I hope is happening now here in the 21st century, because we're bringing a whole new toolbox to the fight for better women's health.

6:13Carol Massar:Well, Carol mentioned what Melinda Gates has announced, the idea of sending money toward the highest rates of mortality, autoimmune disease, mental health and cardiovascular health. One area that we wanted to focus on this afternoon is mortality when it comes to pregnancy and when it comes to childbirth, maternal mortality. And the CDC said that improving maternal health care is one of its new priorities. They posted this document last night. What are the biggest areas for improvement there? How does the U.S. solve that? Well, I think maternal health, I mean, it is shocking that in the United States, we have the highest maternal mortality rates in the industrialized world.

6:49Carol Massar:Why is it that? Why is that in your view? Well, I think, again, because there are a number of issues that go underreported, there is diversity in communities. Women are not having the same access to care and are not, you know, there's not education for both the woman and her health care provider about the signs and symptoms to be looking for. So I hope that this will change. We need to do much better education and targeted education. We now have new communication methods that need to reach personalized information to individual women. And with technology, we'll be able to access care in more rural or underserved areas.

7:34For example, ultrasounds, small miniature ultrasounds that can be taken into communities in underserved areas. And then with telehealth, wire it back to a physician to interpret it. And some of the breakthrough technologies that are underway are to, for example, do a pinprick to get some blood to look for preeclampsia, which is associated with hypertension that can cause death in mothers. So I think there's a lot of work to do, but there's also a lot of innovation that can be brought to the space. Dr.

8:11Carol Massar:Blumenthal, one thing I wanted to ask you, the CDC's vaccine meeting happening today and tomorrow. Just curious, one of the things that's being discussed is changing the hepatitis B vaccine recommendations for newborns and screening all women for hepatitis B. What do you think of this? I'm just curious about it. Well, I'm very concerned as a public health doctor. I think that, you know, if you think about it, 150 years ago, average life expectancy was 38. We've doubled life expectancy in this century. In the year 1900, 18 % of children died before their fifth birthday. Vaccines and other public health interventions were major contributors, were landmark contributors to this extended lifespan.

8:58A generation has grown up not seeing the devastation of polio, smallpox, diphtheria. And so disinformation is circulating. Hepatitis saves vaccines and save 20 ,000 babies. And so I think it's very, you know, very irresponsible to be changing these guidelines when we know that vaccines save lives.

9:24Carol Massar:What does this look like if the guidelines are changed? How does it manifest itself in public health? Do we see immediately a spike in things in your view that could be prevented through vaccines? Well, we've seen a spike in, for example, measles. We've seen some of the highest rates of measles that we've seen in decades. Measles can cause disability and can cause death. I think there have been two or three children that have already died. So I think in the past week. So yes, I mean, I think we will. And again, for measles, you need to have 95 % of children vaccinated for herd immunity so that you're protecting everyone in the community.

10:05You know, right now, there's been a study that showed that one out of six parents is questioning whether to follow the vaccination schedule. So, again, disinformation is circulating and people are getting very confused. If we don't have our major public health agencies consistent in their guidelines, then it's it's up to the states to create their own recommendations. For example, in my state of Massachusetts, our governor has said that anybody who wants a vaccine will be able to get it and that insurance companies need to pay for those vaccines. Because again, under the Affordable Care Act, in the preventive services guidelines, vaccines were covered under your insurance as a free service.

10:56This may change if the guidelines change, means that vaccines will cost people money and that will be an obstacle to getting you or your child vaccinated.

11:06Carol Massar:Dr. Blumenthal, before you go, that's life threatening and very important. Before you go, we've just got 30 seconds. Your family involved in public service, your husband's still in it. Senator Ed Markey, of course, you were in it for a long time. what do you hear what it's like to be in public service now, considering some of the attacks that we've seen, it feels like, from various groups and entities and just got about 20 seconds? Well, it's an honor to serve. And sadly, I think, you know, it's a challenging time. But to be able to give back to your country is extremely meaningful. And just to end this with women's health.

11:50Improving women's health means improving the health of families, of communities, and of countries. Got it. Thank you so much.

12:01Advisors, the best way to outperform client expectations is to choose funds and ETFs that outperform the market. Fidelity helps power long-term growth in client portfolios with 300-plus Morningstar rated four - and five-star funds, including active ETFs. Discover what sets Fidelity apart when it comes to performance at i.fidelity.com slash top funds. Across all fund share classes of Fidelity, Fidelity Advisor Shares, and Fidelity ETS as of 6-15-2026. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Support for the show comes from public.com. If you're actively involved in your portfolio, you probably catch yourself repeating the same actions.

12:37Buying the dip, manually sweeping idle cash, putting on a hedge. On public, you can now create AI agents that handle all these tasks on your behalf. Just describe what you want to do in plain English. Like, if the VIX hits 25, buy a put option on the S &P 500. Or, if my cash balance goes above$20 ,000, move the excess into my direct index. You approve of the workflow and your agent handles the rest. Monitoring the market, watching for your conditions, and executing your strategies exactly as defined. An investing platform driven by your intent, not just your clicks. You can also get full read and write access to your account via the public API.

13:18Go to public.com slash market and fund your account in five minutes or less. That's public.com slash market. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. Aging is real, and so are the benefits of new Vital Proteins Collagen Sparkling Water. Because around the age of 30, your body needs backup to keep your collagen up. So get your daily glow up, now in three fresh flavors. Strawberry blossom, lemon lime, and blood orange.

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