The Gates Foundation has announced it will spend $2.5 billion by 2030 on women’s health, in an effort to advance chronically underfunded areas for women globally.
The pledge is more than triple the amount the Gates Foundation has spent on women’s health innovation over the past five years.
“For too long, women have suffered from health conditions that are misunderstood, misdiagnosed or ignored,” said Dr Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates Foundation’s Gender Equality Division.
“We want this investment to spark a new era of women-centred innovation- one where women’s lives, bodies and voices are prioritised in health R&D (research and development).”
Just one per cent of healthcare research and innovation is invested in female-specific conditions beyond oncology, according to a 2021 analysis, led by McKinsey & Company, which the Foundation cited.
This leaves critical issues such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis and menopause without the research they need to support the hundreds of millions of women affected.
The Gates Foundation’s investment will advance innovation across these five ‘high-impact’ areas, including obstetric care and maternal immunisation, maternal health and nutrition, gynecological and menstrual health, contraceptive innovation and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
These priority areas were selected on a combination of data and evidence about where innovation can save and improve the most lives, according to the Foundation.
“Investing in women’s health has a lasting impact across generations. It leads to healthier families, stronger economies, and a more just world,” said Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation.
“Yet women’s health continues to be ignored, underfunded, and sidelined. Too many women still die from preventable causes or live in poor health. That must change. But we can’t do it alone.”
This $2.5 billion investment signals the Foundation’s intent to continue to invest in the cause following the 2024 departure of Melinda French Gates, who led the Foundation’s support of girls’ and women’s health. Since her divorce from Bill Gates, French Gates has committed more than $1 billion to support women and families around the world, particularly in areas of reproductive rights.
Along with the Gates Foundation’s latest investment, they are calling on governments, philanthropists, investors and the private sector to co-invest in women’s health innovations to help close persistent gaps in funding and research.
Dr Zaidi said that while the investment is the largest the Foundation has “ever made in women’s health research and development”, “it still falls far short of what is needed in a neglected and underfunded area of huge human need and opportunity”.
“Women’s health is not just a philanthropic cause—it’s an investable opportunity with immense potential for scientific breakthroughs that could help millions of women,” said Dr Zaidi. “What’s needed is the will to pursue and follow through.”