Shirin Heidari, Roli Mathur, Angèle Gayet-Ageron, Ann Zeta George, Kristin Marie Bivens, Mantoa Mokhachane, Johannes J M van Delden, Jill Gardner, Thomas F Babor
The Lancet – November 28, 2025
The current sociopolitical climate has made science a contested terrain. Polemical rhetoric and attempts to subordinate science to ideology are not only compromising research integrity, but also eroding public trust. Gender is central to these contestations: efforts to erase, ignore, and deny identities or politicise gender scholarship undermine scientific accuracy and accountability. Sex and gender, which defy binaries, shape risk exposure, disease manifestation, health-care access, and outcomes. Ignoring these valid scientific categories will produce biased evidence with health consequences.