Bringing healing to where it’s needed most is part of Hadassah’s mission, and promoting and advancing women’s health is a key part of our everyday efforts. To see the manifestation of this long-standing commitment, we need look no further than groundbreaking research and treatments, advocacy and education initiatives that prioritize women’s health, including community health and wellness events around the country. Hadassah has been designated an official 2024 Women’s Health Champion by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health. During National Women’s Health Week, May 12–18, we’re illuminating some of the many areas of women’s health where Hadassah makes an impact.
Breast Cancer
- The Hadassah Medical Organization recently discovered that mutations to part of the gene TP53, which helps repair damaged DNA, make Arab women vulnerable to developing breast cancer. A blood test being developed can monitor for the first signs of possible cancer and also help show how effective treatment is for women already diagnosed.
- Hadassah researchers confirmed that Ashkenazi Jews have at least a 10 times greater prevalence of BRCA1 gene mutations that can cause breast and ovarian cancer, leading to increased screenings and/or genetic consultations in at-risk populations.
- Hadassah has the only breast oncology unit in Israel with its own dedicated team of psychologists. The Psycho-oncology Service of Breast Oncology at Hadassah’s Sharett Institute is a one-of-a-kind service for patients, accompanying them throughout all stages of the disease. Treatments are tailored toward individuals, couples, families and groups utilizing therapeutic approaches including existentialist therapeutic work, mind-body interventions and support groups for women in recovery and survivorship.
Heart Health
- Most women — almost 60 percent — will face some element of heart disease during their lifetime, with hypertension being the most common. In general, women tend to have fewer heart attacks and heart blockages, but when they do get them, "they get into more trouble," says Dr. Donna Zfat-Zwas, director of the Linda Joy Pollin Cardiovascular Wellness Center for Women at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem.
- Hadassah’s Cardio-Oncology Center was declared Israel’s first Center of Excellence by the International Cardio-Oncology Society, which brings together cardio-oncologists from around the world with the aim of reducing cardiovascular disease in cancer patients and thereby saving patients’ lives.
- For the fifth year in a row, Newsweek named Hadassah one of the world’s top hospitals in cardiology.
Gynecological / Maternal Health
- The newly opened Gynecologic Oncology Center, a facility within the Patricia and Russell Fleischman Center for Women’s Health at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, brings under one roof the treatment and followup of gynecological cancers — ovarian, cervical, uterine and vaginal — along with that of endometriosis, fibroids, pelvic masses and more. This approach enables swift management of conditions for which timing is often critical.
- A cervical cancer patient, who went into remission following treatment at Hadassah, started a Facebook group to prepare other women for the rigors of treatment and tell them about warning signs she’d missed. This group now has nearly 2,000 members.
- The new Rady Mother and Child Center at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus provides a personalized delivery for each maternity patient with the help of empathic, compassionate and skilled midwives.
Reproductive Health
- Hadassah signed onto amicus briefs for two monumental Supreme Court cases that could threaten reproductive freedom across the country: FDA vs. Alliance, which challenges the FDA’s approval of and expanded access to mifepristone, a medication that induces abortion and treats ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages and other medical conditions, and US vs. Idaho, which highlights the negative health impacts of abortion bans, especially for disadvantaged and minority women.
- US maternal mortality rates continue to be alarmingly high and are still rising. The Preventing Maternal Deaths Act (H.R. 4581 | S. 2415) is up for reauthorization. Hadassah wants to ensure the Senate passes this vital bill to provide tools and resources. At the same time, the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act, which pushes for evidence-based approaches to reduce incidences of stillbirth, is being considered by the House. Hadassah is asking its members and supporters to urge their legislators to strengthen maternal health by passing these important bills today.
- Hadassah researchers pioneered a diagnostic regimen to prevent transmission of the BRCA mutation to the next generation. This breakthrough in in vitro fertilization and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) enables women with the mutation to have their embryos pre-screened.
Hadassah leadership was proud to have celebrated Women’s History Month at the White House this March as well as President Biden’s new executive order focused on women’s health. President Biden announced new proposed funding for women's health in the federal budget and spoke about the new Initiative on Women’s Health Research and the Sprint for Women's Health spearheaded by Dr. Jill Biden. These programs will bring together the federal government, private investors and philanthropic supporters, changing how the world approaches and funds women’s health research.