Gates Foundation Commits $2.5 Billion To Women’s Health
A significant influx of funding could change one of the most marginalized and overlooked areas in medicine.
The Gates Foundation has announced it’s committing $2.5 billion over the next five years to support dozens of women’s health initiatives globally—a boon for both rich and poor countries around the world in which the existing care systems are consistently failing half the population.
The investment represents the biggest funding commitment the Gates Foundation has ever made in the women’s health space and is around one-third more than the foundation spent on women’s and maternal health over the last five years. It comes just months after Bill Gates, the foundation’s chairman and founder, announced that he’s seeking to donate the vast bulk of his $200 billion fortune before winding down the foundation over the next two decades.
“Women’s health continues to be ignored, underfunded and sidelined,” Bill Gates said in a statement. “Too many women still die from preventable causes or live in poor health. That must change.”
Gates is right. Women’s health remains one of the most marginalized and overlooked areas in medicine, with tragic consequences for half the global population. Women are, for example, underrepresented in clinical trials, leading to treatments and interventions that fail to account for their individual needs.
As an example, just 41% of clinical trial participants in the U.S. are women, and conditions that disproportionately or exclusively affect them—like endometriosis or postpartum hemorrhage—receive only a tiny proportion of research funding.
Although low- and middle-income countries bear over half the global burden of disease among women, less than one-quarter of clinical trials focus on these populations, according to research done by the foundation. And major health issues like cardiovascular disease and maternal mortality continue to go under-researched and misdiagnosed, exacerbating suffering and limiting women's economic and social participation.
In announcing the initiates, the foundation highlighted Deloitte research showing that just 4% of all biopharma research and development funding targets female-specific conditions, and of the 37 new drugs approved by the FDA in 2022, just two were designed for women's health.
The foundation also noted that over 257 million women and girls lack access to modern contraception, and 500 million go without basic menstrual health products. All of this leads to a staggering economic toll amounting to hundreds of billions each year.
Specifically, the Gates investment will focus on five key areas: improving maternal immunization and obstetric care—basically making pregnancy and delivery safer; women’s gut health and nutrition; gynecological and menstrual health; contraceptive options; and the burden of sexually transmitted infection.
In announcing the news, the foundation explained that areas of “breakthrough potential” include “the vaginal microbiome, first-in-class therapeutics for preeclampsia, and non-hormonal contraception.” It said it will also fund investments that support data generation and advocacy.
“We want this investment to spark a new era of women-centered innovation,” said Dr. Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates Foundation’s Gender Equality Division, “one where women's lives, bodies, and voices are prioritized in health R&D.”
Josie Cox
Ruchi Kumar
Hyesu Lee
