Women's health research: public policy and sociology.

In the space of just a few years, the amount and nature of scientific research on women's health has emerged as a major policy issue being addressed at the highest levels of the federal government and in the mainstream media. This debate has engaged members of Congress, the National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies, and medical, scientific, health, and women's organizations. Sociologists have made significant contributions to both the process by which the women's health research issue has ascended to public awareness and the content of its agenda. Many of these contributions go unrecognized and other potential contributions by medical sociologists remain unrealized. In order to advance both science and practice in women's health--by ensuring the inclusion of the sociological perspective--we encourage sociologists to participate more directly in the policy debates.