Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates has highlighted the chronic underfunding of women’s health, committing $50 million through her Pivotal Ventures organisation to fund research into areas that pose significant risks to women, including autoimmune conditions, mental health, and cardiovascular disease. This donation complements her earlier pledge to invest $1 billion over two years in advancing women’s health research. Women disproportionately experience autoimmune diseases, with roughly 80% of sufferers being female, and are 1.5 times more likely than men to suffer from depression, according to the World Health Organization. Cardiovascular disease also manifests differently in women, often resulting in worse outcomes due to delayed diagnosis and distinct symptoms.
The funding will support US NGO Wellcome Leap, a global health research network spanning over 160 institutions across six continents, to drive new scientific investigations. Melinda French Gates emphasised that women’s health has historically been “chronically underfunded, chronically under-researched,” leaving critical knowledge gaps that impact millions worldwide. The systematic exclusion of women from clinical trials in past decades, such as the US policy between 1977 and 1993, contributed to ongoing disparities, and even recent trials show underrepresentation, with women making up only about 42% of participants in studies on cancer, cardiovascular disease, and psychiatric disorders.
Wellcome Leap aims to accelerate research that could deliver faster breakthroughs in women’s health, targeting long-standing inequities that result in women spending more years in poor health compared to men. For instance, women are twice as likely as men to develop Alzheimer’s disease, and the initiative will explore whether interventions like hormone therapy around menopause can protect brain health. Despite global initiatives, some frontline organizations in low- and middle-income countries report limited access to Western funding, underscoring the importance of supporting grassroots, community-led programs that provide mental health care, education, and economic opportunities for women.
Closing the gender health gap is not only a moral imperative but also an economic opportunity. Reports from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey estimate that addressing inequities in women’s health could contribute $1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040 through reduced healthcare costs, higher productivity, and a stronger workforce. By investing in research, scaling evidence-based interventions, and fostering collaboration with grassroots organizations, initiatives like Pivotal Ventures and Wellcome Leap aim to transform women’s health outcomes globally, accelerating progress that has been delayed for decades.
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