By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 6, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Monday it will invest $2.5 billion in women’s health over the next five years — one of its largest commitments to date.
Bill Gates said too many health conditions that affect women, including preeclampsia, endometriosis and menopause, have been overlooked for far too long.
“Investing in women’s health has a lasting impact across generations. It leads to healthier families, stronger economies and a more just world,” he said in a statement on the foundation’s website.
“Yet women’s health continues to be ignored, underfunded, and sidelined,” Gates added. “Too many women still die from preventable causes or live in poor health. That must change. But we can’t do it alone.”
The funding will go toward five key areas:
Gynecological and menstrual health
Obstetric care and maternal immunization
Contraceptive innovation
Sexually transmitted infections
Maternal health and nutrition
Foundation leaders say the goal is to boost research, develop new products and make them widely available around the world.
Dr. Anita Zaidi leads gender equality efforts at the Gates Foundation.
“For too long, women have suffered from health conditions that are misunderstood, misdiagnosed or ignored,” she said in the news release. “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.”
In an interview, she offered a stunning statistic.
“If you look at the literature, there may be only 10 women who’ve been studied, ever,” she told Reuters. “We don’t even have the answers to these basic questions.”
A 2021 report by McKinsey & Co. found that just 1% of health care research and innovation funding went toward female-specific conditions other than cancer.
Zaidi told Reuters that while $2.5 billion is a large investment, it’s still not enough to close the gap.
“It’s a drop in the bucket,” she said, urging other philanthropists, governments and private companies to step up.
The funding announcement comes as Bill Gates continues to plan the donation of his entire $200 billion fortune by 2045.
His ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, who left the Foundation last year, has continued investing in women’s health through her own initiatives, Reuters said in a report.
More information
Learn more about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
SOURCE: Gates Foundation, Aug. 4, 2025; Reuters, Aug. 4, 2025
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