The funding will support 40 innovations in five key areas of women’s healthcare that are critically underfunded and affect women in low- and middle-income countries.
This includes obstetric care, maternal health and nutrition, contraception, gynecological and menstrual health, and sexually transmitted infection (STIs) prevention. These were chosen based on based on data about where innovation can be most impactful in savings lives.
The initiative is aimed at bridging gender gap in women’s health and well-being, stating that only 1% of healthcare research spending goes toward female-specific conditions not related to cancer even though women make up half the world’s population.
Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates Foundation’s Gender Equality Division, said that women’s health conditions have been misunderstood and misdiagnosed for too long.
“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,” Zainab said.
The foundation noted that there’s been little to no progress in gynecological diseases and anxiety disorders conditions that disproportionately affect women since the 1990s compared to infectious diseases like Malaria and Tuberculosis. In fact, gynecological and anxiety disorder conditions have increased by 11% and 67%, respectively.
Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, said, “Investing in women’s health has a lasting impact across generations. It leads to healthier families, stronger economies, and a more just world.”
The foundation further noted that investing a single dollar in women’s health yields $3 in economic growth with the potential to boost global economy by $1 trillion every year by 2040.
The initiative is aligned with the foundation’s long-term goals of accelerating efforts to end preventable deaths of moms and babies, among other things, by 2045.
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