Seattle, United States (Enmaeya News) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $2.5 billion commitment through 2030 to support over 40 innovations aimed at improving women’s health worldwide. This marks a one-third increase from the foundation’s investments over the past five years and is its largest investment in women’s health research and development to date.
The funding builds on decades of work by the foundation in global health, particularly benefiting women and children. It has backed life-saving innovations such as new contraceptives, portable diagnostic tools, and micronutrient supplements.
Despite the progress, many women’s health conditions remain misunderstood or ignored. Dr. Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates Foundation’s gender equality division, pointed to issues like endometriosis, which affects 1 in 10 women globally but is misdiagnosed up to 65% of the time.
Research funding for women-specific health issues is limited. A McKinsey & Company analysis found that only 1% of healthcare research funding outside of oncology focuses on conditions affecting women. In 2022, just two of 37 prescription drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration targeted female-specific health conditions.
Women tend to spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men, mostly during their working years. Improving women’s health could add at least $1 trillion to global GDP annually by 2040, according to a World Economic Forum report with the McKinsey Health Institute.
Zaidi hopes the foundation’s commitment will encourage other investors and private companies to increase their support for women’s health research and development. She emphasized that collaboration is key to overcoming decades of underinvestment and ensuring new innovations reach women and girls who need them most.
The $2.5 billion will fund research and innovations across five key areas: obstetric care and maternal immunization, maternal health and nutrition, gynecological and menstrual health, contraceptive innovation, and sexually transmitted infections. The foundation will continue investing in new contraceptive options and research into women’s gut health and nutrition.
Some lesser-known innovations are part of this effort, including hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs) to help women with heavy menstrual bleeding, a condition linked to anemia. Women with this issue are nearly twice as likely as men to have their symptoms wrongly attributed to psychological causes, delaying treatment and increasing health risks.
The foundation is also funding research on AI-enabled ultrasounds to diagnose heavy menstrual bleeding and other conditions like heart and lung disease and breast cancer. Research on the vaginal microbiome aims to better understand how it changes over a woman’s life and its impact on infections.
In obstetric care, the foundation supports developing a drug targeting the root cause of preeclampsia and bringing to market innovations such as a low-cost drape to detect excessive blood loss after childbirth, a rapid test for HIV and syphilis, and a self-injectable contraceptive.
Contraceptive options remain a critical need. Nearly 40% of women who start using current contraceptives stop within a year due to dissatisfaction. Zaidi said women require more control, fewer side effects, and options that fit their changing needs—from age 20 through perimenopause.
Supporting these innovations is about giving women dignity and autonomy throughout their reproductive lives. The foundation notes that 257 million women want contraception but lack access.
Beyond this $2.5 billion, the foundation is also investing in service delivery and other efforts to ensure innovations reach women in low- and middle-income countries. Zaidi stressed that developing new tools alone is not enough—they must be accessible to those who need them most.
