Over the next two decades, the Gates Foundation is set to invest billions in preventable deaths of mothers and babies; ensuring the next generation grows up without having to suffer from deadly diseases and infectious; and lift millions of people out of poverty, putting them on a path to prosperity
This focus builds on the extraordinary global progress in health and development between 2000 and 2025—a period when child deaths were more than halved, deaths from deadly infectious diseases were significantly reduced, and hundreds of millions of people rose out of poverty. The health of women was not only a part of this progress…it was critical to achieving it.
$2.5B Investment Snapshot
The foundation is committing $2.5 billion through 2030 to transform women’s health, with a focus on driving impact across every stage of a woman’s life. This investment advances a pipeline of more than 40 promising innovations in development focused on five priority areas of women’s health.
This R&D funding commitment is focused exclusively on women’s health addresses challenges that affect tens of millions of women worldwide, particularly those in low- and middleincome countries. These challenges often lead to preventable maternal and child deaths but also have a huge impact on women’s lives through adverse birth outcomes.
Five priority R&D areas for investment:
Improving maternal health (including obstetric care)
Understanding gut health and nutrition
Improving gynecological & menstrual health
Expanding contraceptive options
Addressing the outsized burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) on women.
Why is the foundation investing in these five areas?
They are grounded in data and evidence on the innovations most likely to save and
improve the greatest number of women’s lives
They reflect the needs and preferences of women living in low- and middle-income
countries
They address the high rates of misdiagnosis driven by gaps in medical knowledge and
training.
They address real-world conditions – including low-resource settings with challenges
such as limited infrastructure and training, workforce shortages and stigma
Many of these innovations have the potential to help women globally, making them
attractive for broader public and private sector investment