The Gates Foundation announced Monday it plans to invest $2.5 billion to support initiatives aimed at advancing women's health with a specific focus on maternal, menstrual, gynecological and sexual health.
It represents the largest investment the foundation has made into women’s health research and development.
Anita Zaidi, M.D., president of the Gates Foundation’s gender equality division, said the hefty funding 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. What’s needed is the will to pursue and follow through," Zaidi said in a statement.
The Gates Foundation is pressing governments, philanthropists, investors and the private sector to co-invest in women’s health innovations, help shape product development and ensure access to treatments for women.
The foundation is committed to funding initiatives through 2030. It will support the advancement of more than 40 innovations in five critical, chronically underfunded areas—particularly those affecting women in low- and middle-income countries, the organization said.
New approaches could include research into the vaginal microbiome, improved therapeutics for preeclampsia and nonhormonal contraception. Included in the commitment are investments that will support data generation and advocacy to help ensure product uptake and impact upon approval, the Gates Foundation said.
“For too long, women have suffered from health conditions that are misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or ignored,” Zaidi said. "We want this investment to spark a new era of women-centered innovation—one where women's lives, bodies, and voices are prioritized in health R&D.”
Women’s health R&D remains chronically underfunded. A 2021 analysis, led by McKinsey & Company, found that just 1% of healthcare research and innovation is invested in female-specific conditions beyond oncology. Critical issues like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis and menopause, which together affect hundreds of million of women, remain deeply under-researched.
The investment will target innovations in the areas of obstetric care and maternal immunization to make pregnancy and delivery safer; maternal health and nutrition to support healthier pregnancies and newborns; gynecological and menstrual health to develop tools and research to better diagnose, treat and improve gynecological health and reduce infection risk; along with approaches for more accessible, acceptable and effective options for contraception.
The funding could also go toward improving the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections to reduce disproportionate burdens on women.
"We see the consequences of underinvestment in women’s health innovation every day when women suffer needlessly, and sometimes lose their lives, because of the gaps in how we understand and treat conditions that uniquely affect them,” Bosede Afolabi, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, said in a statement. “This commitment brings much-needed attention to the health challenges women face in places where resources are most limited and the burden is highest. It reflects a recognition that women’s lives—and the innovations that support them—must be prioritized everywhere.”
Investment in women's health can produce broader social and economic gains. Research shows that every $1 invested in women’s health yields $3 in economic growth, and closing the gender health gap could boost the global economy by $1 trillion per year by 2040, according to a McKinsey report.
“Investing in women’s health has a lasting impact across generations. It leads to healthier families, stronger economies, and a more just world,” Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, said. “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.”