The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a major commitment of $2.5 billion to improve women’s health by 2030, highlighting that this area has long been overlooked. Bill Gates emphasized that conditions ranging from preeclampsia to menopause have not received the attention or funding they deserve.
This investment marks one of the Foundation’s most significant pledges since Gates revealed his plan to donate his $200 billion fortune by 2045. It also represents a 33% increase over what the Foundation has allocated to women’s and maternal health research in the past five years.
“Women’s health is routinely ignored, underfunded and pushed aside,” Gates stated. “Far too many women suffer from preventable conditions or live with poor health. This needs to change.”
The initiative will prioritize under-researched health conditions affecting millions of women worldwide across both wealthy and low-income nations including gestational diabetes, endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding and menopause.
The funding will be directed toward five main areas:
- Obstetric care and maternal vaccines
- Maternal nutrition and health
- Gynecological and menstrual issues
- Innovations in contraception
- Prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
The goal is to accelerate research, develop effective treatments and ensure global access to these innovations.
Dr. Anita Zaidi, the Foundation’s head of gender equality, noted that systemic bias and lack of data have severely limited progress in women’s health. “In many cases, only a handful of women have been studied,” she said, referencing the lack of data on how drugs interact with the uterus. “We don’t even have answers to some of the most basic questions.”
A 2021 McKinsey & Company report found that only 1% of healthcare research and innovation funding targets female-specific conditions outside of cancer.
While the $2.5 billion pledge is a significant step, Zaidi acknowledged it’s still a fraction of what’s needed, and urged increased support from governments, the private sector and other philanthropists.
Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates’ former wife, has also been actively funding women’s health projects since stepping away from the Foundation last year.
