The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $2.5 billion towards accelerating research and development (R&D) in women’s health, a bold investment aimed at transforming care for millions of women, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Announced in a statement on Monday, the funding will be disbursed through 2030 and directed toward over 40 innovations targeting five long-neglected areas of women’s health. These include maternal and menstrual health, gynaecological conditions, sexual health, and contraceptive development.
According to the foundation, women’s health continues to suffer from chronic underfunding, especially in areas unrelated to cancer. A 2021 McKinsey & Company report cited by the foundation revealed that only 1% of global healthcare R&D is allocated to female-specific conditions outside oncology.
Common conditions such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, and menopause—which collectively affect hundreds of millions of women—remain drastically under-researched and misunderstood, leading to delays in diagnosis and inadequate treatment options.
“For too long, women have suffered from health conditions that are misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or ignored,” said Dr Anita Zaidi, President of the 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. This is the largest investment we’ve ever made in this area, but it’s only a starting point.”
The initiative, the foundation said, reflects years of direct engagement with women in underserved communities, where systemic gaps in medical training, diagnostics, and treatment options continue to cause preventable suffering and death.
Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the foundation, added:
“Investing in women’s health delivers cross-generational benefits—it means healthier families, more resilient economies, and a fairer world. But progress is slow because women’s health is still too often ignored or sidelined. That must change.”
The foundation is calling on governments, philanthropists, investors, and the private sector to co-invest, shape product development, and help ensure that any innovations reach the women and girls who need them most.
The five priority areas for investment were selected using global data on health burdens and innovation potential, alongside insight from women in low-resource settings about the most urgent gaps in care.
Prof. Bosede Afolabi, a leading obstetrician and gynaecologist at the University of Lagos, welcomed the funding announcement:
“We see the consequences of neglect every day—women dying or suffering unnecessarily due to poor diagnosis and limited treatment options. This investment shows that women’s health is finally being recognised as a global development priority.”
Beyond health benefits, the foundation noted the strong economic case for investing in women’s health. Research suggests that every $1 invested yields $3 in economic growth, and closing the gender health gap could add up to $1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040.
The new commitment also complements the Gates Foundation’s broader support for access to women’s health commodities, HPV vaccinations, and maternal and child healthcare programmes in underserved regions.
