Where's the money?

Endometriosis research is severely underfunded. Don't believe me? Let's look at how the National Institutes of Health allocate funds.

Endometriosis affects one in 10 people assigned female at birth, meaning roughly 6.5 million people in the United States have the disease and more than 190 million worldwide, according to the Endometriosis Foundation of America.

In fiscal year 2024, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) allocated $28 million to endometriosis research. This may sound like a large chunk of change, but it makes up a mere 0.067% of the NIH's total budget. That $28 million amounts to roughly $4.30 per patient per year, according to Endo Found's website.

How do these numbers compare to other diseases?

If you compare funding for endometriosis research with other conditions, the numbers appear even more bleak. For example, Crohn's disease, which affects about 690,000 people in the U.S., received $90 million in research funding in 2022. That works out to about $130 per patient — more than 30 times the funding per endometriosis patient.

Clearly, the issue isn't overfunding elsewhere; it's that endometriosis is severely underfunded.

Let's take a look at another devastating disease affecting Americans. Roughly 2.1 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. This is a serious disease that can shorten someone's lifespan, and insulin prices have also been a major concern for patients.

Research funding for Type 1 diabetes, including federal and nonprofit funding, amounted to $420 million. The NIH was responsible for $160 million of that.

Again, I am not saying one disease is worse than another. But when you consider how many millions of people are affected by endometriosis, why is research into this disease so severely underfunded?