{"id":287840,"date":"2026-02-17T05:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T05:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/287840\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T05:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T05:59:07","slug":"applications-open-for-the-2026-apec-healthy-women-research-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/287840\/","title":{"rendered":"Applications Open For The 2026 APEC Healthy Women Research Prize"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, 17 February 2026, 6:01 pm
Press Release: APEC<\/a><\/p>\n

16 February 2026<\/p>\n

The 2026 APEC Healthy Women,
\nHealthy Economies Research Prize (HWHE)
\nis now open, calling for innovative, evidence-based research
\nthat strengthens understanding of how women\u2019s health
\nunderpins economic participation across the
\nAsia-Pacific.<\/p>\n

The annual prize encourages the
\ngeneration of robust women\u2019s health data and research to
\ninform policy and business decisions across APEC member
\neconomies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen\u2019s full engagement is a
\ncornerstone of inclusive and sustainable economic
\ndevelopment,\u201d said Anita Pe\u00f1a Saavedra, Chair of the APEC
\nPolicy Partnership on Women and the Economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy
\nprioritizing women\u2019s health and addressing the structural
\nchallenges that limit their opportunities, we build stronger
\nfoundations for prosperity across families, communities, and
\nmarkets. Initiatives such as APEC Healthy Women, Healthy
\nEconomies play a vital role in advancing equality while
\nsupporting long-term growth and resilience,\u201d she
\nadded.<\/p>\n

Applications for the 2026 prize are open to
\nindividuals or teams from APEC member economies. Applicants
\ndo not need to come from academia, provided the research is
\nevidence-based and addresses at least one pillar of the
\nHealthy Women, Healthy Economies Policy Toolkit: workplace
\nhealth and safety, health awareness and access, sexual and
\nreproductive health, gender-based violence, or work\u2013life
\nbalance.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

The prize winner will receive USD 20,000 and
\nbe recognized at a ceremony held on the margins of the Women
\nand the Economy Forum. Two runners-up will each receive USD
\n5,000.<\/p>\n

Awarded research spans priority areas such as
\nnon-communicable diseases, family- and workplace-policy
\nreforms and caregiving and long-term care, highlighting how
\nhealth and care responsibilities shape women\u2019s economic
\noutcomes.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the
\nresearch prize was awarded to Professor Jun Zhu of the
\nNational Maternal and Child Health Surveillance Office under
\nChina\u2019s National Health Commission.<\/p>\n

Her project
\nintegrated population and hospital-based data to guide
\nmaternal health policy, covering more than 140 million
\npeople and contributing to a reduction in China\u2019s maternal
\nmortality rate from 31.9 to 15.1 deaths per 100,000 live
\nbirths between 2009 and 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdvancing women\u2019s
\nhealth is fundamental to building stronger societies and
\nmore resilient economies,\u201d said Terri Stewart, Senior Vice
\nPresident and Head of Global Healthcare Government and
\nPublic Affairs at Merck Healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth and life
\nscience companies have a critical role to play in
\naccelerating this progress. Through partnership with
\ngovernments and civil society, we can develop innovative,
\nsustainable solutions that respond to women\u2019s health needs
\nacross the life course and deliver meaningful, long-term
\nimpact,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The HWHE Research Prize was
\ninitiated during Chile\u2019s APEC host year in 2019. Since
\nthen, it has been supported by Merck as prize sponsor,
\nrecognizing research that equips policymakers and business
\nleaders to enable women to join, rise and thrive in the
\nworkforce.<\/p>\n

Since its launch, the prize has recognized
\nseven winners from four APEC economies including China; Hong
\nKong, China; Chinese Taipei; and the Philippines, as well as
\nrunners-up from eleven economies, including Australia;
\nCanada; Chile; Singapore; the United States; and Viet
\nNam.<\/p>\n

Interested candidates can access this
\nlink. Applications close on Friday, 6 March
\n2026. To learn more, please visit the
\nAPEC Healthy Women, Healthy Economies website or contact
\nHWHE@accesspartnership.com.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tuesday, 17 February 2026, 6:01 pmPress Release: APEC 16 February 2026 The 2026 APEC Healthy Women, Healthy Economies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[75178,134,111,24636,139,69,11112,377,150730,153819],"class_list":{"0":"post-287840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-apec","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newsworthy","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-scoop","15":"tag-world","16":"tag-world-asia","17":"tag-world-pacific"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}