The American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) participated in the 2026 National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) Healthcare Summit in Washington, DC, joining women state legislators from across the country to discuss pressing healthcare issues and opportunities for bipartisan action. The summit brought together elected officials, healthcare experts, patient advocates, and national organizations to explore policies affecting women, families, and communities.
AMWA Executive Director Dr. Eliza Chin, partnered with Sarah Hoffman, Executive Director of the COPD Action Alliance (CAA), to lead an interactive roundtable titled “Beyond the Stereotypes: COPD’s Impact on Americans Today.” The session was one of six rotating roundtables designed to foster direct conversations between healthcare leaders and state legislators.
Unlike a traditional presentation, the roundtable immersed legislators in the lived experience of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Participants took part in the COPD Straw Challenge, a hands-on exercise simulating the breathing limitations experienced by many patients living with COPD, followed by discussions about disparities in diagnosis, research, and the disease’s impact.
Dr. Chin highlighted the shift in COPD demographics which has become increasingly a women’s health issue.
For decades, COPD was largely viewed as a disease affecting older men who smoked. Today, however, women account for nearly half of all people living with COPD in the United States and about 53% of the deaths caused by COPD. Women experience unique challenges, including delayed diagnosis, more severe symptoms, more frequent exacerbations, and disease occurrence with lower levels of tobacco exposure. Women may also be more likely to be exposed to occupational and environmental risks, including cleaning chemicals, dust, fumes, poor indoor air quality.
The discussion also focused on opportunities for state leadership – increased awareness, policies that could support research on sex differences in COPD, earlier diagnosis and improved care, and ways to collaborate on COPD awareness initiatives (e.g. proclamations recognizing November COPD Awareness Month, educational events, and resolutions supporting improved access to diagnosis and care).
CAA has noted that despite COPD being the 5th leading cause of health-related deaths, it ranks 175th in receiving research funding.
As AMWA continues to advance women’s health through education, advocacy, and evidence-based medicine, opportunities like the NFWL Healthcare Summit provide an important forum for engaging policymakers and ensuring that women’s voices—and women’s health—remain central to healthcare policy conversations.
