Women’s health funding got a major boost as Melinda French Gates pledged $215 million more worldwide.
Melinda French Gates is expanding her global push to improve women’s health, pledging another $215 million for contraceptive access, maternal care, mental health support and menopause care.
The new commitment brings French Gates’ women’s health giving to more than $600 million over the past two years, according to The Associated Press. The funding will flow through Pivotal, the group of organizations French Gates founded to manage her philanthropy and investments. The Associated Press
French Gates said women’s health sits at the center of her work because health affects every part of a woman’s life.
“It’s just blaringly obvious that women’s health is fundamental,” French Gates told AP. “She has to be well to do well in life.”
Funding Targets Long Ignored Health Gaps
The new money will support several areas that French Gates says have been overlooked for too long.
That includes access to contraception, maternal care and health support for women in midlife. The funding will also support more work on menopause, an area many doctors and advocates say has received too little research and too little attention.
Pivotal said the $215 million commitment aims to close “long ignored gaps” in women’s health, from contraceptive access to menopause care. Pivotal
French Gates said philanthropy can help shine a light on problems society has left behind. She also said she hopes the donation pushes other donors and governments to invest more.
Maternal Mental Health Gets Major Support
One of the largest pieces of the new funding is a $40 million donation to Co-Impact.
That money will support an effort to include mental health care inside maternal and primary care, especially in Africa. The goal is to make mental health support easier to reach for women who may already be seeking medical care for pregnancy, childbirth or family health needs.
French Gates has long focused on women and girls, but this new round shows a more targeted strategy. Since leaving the Gates Foundation in 2024, she has sharpened Pivotal’s focus on women’s power, opportunity and health.
The move comes as global health experts continue warning that women’s health needs remain underfunded compared with their impact on families, economies and communities.
Menopause Care Gets New Attention
The announcement also includes a $10 million donation to The Menopause Society.
The money will support better menopause care in the United States by educating health care providers and expanding outreach in places where care is limited. The Menopause Society said the donation could help reach areas with low access to clinicians trained in menopause care.
Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of The Menopause Society and director of Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health, said menopause remains one of the most overlooked areas in medicine.
“Women deserve better,” Faubion said, according to AP.
She said the gift is important not only because of the money, but because it signals that menopause care deserves public attention, research and action.
Only a Small Share of Health Funding Goes to Women’s Issues
French Gates and other advocates say the numbers show why the issue matters.
According to AP, the World Economic Forum has found that even though women make up about half the population, health issues that specifically affect them receive only 2 percent of private health care funding.
That funding gap can affect research, diagnosis, treatment and access to care. It also means many women spend years dealing with pain, symptoms or health questions that receive little medical attention.
Reuters reported last year that women’s health research remains deeply underfunded, with only about 1 percent of pharmaceutical research funding outside cancer directed toward women’s health in 2024. Reuters
A Bigger Push After Leaving Gates Foundation
French Gates stepped away from the Gates Foundation in 2024, after decades building it into one of the world’s largest private health funders.
Since then, she has focused more directly on women’s rights, women’s health and family well-being through Pivotal. Her recent giving shows that women’s health is becoming one of her main philanthropic priorities.
Time reported that French Gates’ latest $215 million commitment brings her total support for women’s health to $600 million over the past two years. TIME
The new pledge also follows broader attention to women’s health funding. Reuters reported in 2025 that the Gates Foundation separately committed $2.5 billion to women’s health by 2030, targeting areas such as maternal care, gynecological health and contraceptive innovation. Reuters
French Gates Wants Women’s Pain to Be Seen
French Gates said the larger mission is not just to fund programs. It is also to make women’s health more visible.
“I want women’s health issues to not be invisible,” she told AP. “I don’t want the default to be that women are expected to deal with pain and suffering.”
That message is likely to resonate with women who have felt dismissed when discussing symptoms, pain, reproductive health or midlife changes.
It also gives the donation a wider meaning. French Gates is using her money and public platform to argue that women’s health should not sit at the edge of medicine, research or philanthropy.
The $215 million pledge may not close the funding gap on its own. But it sends a clear signal to donors, governments and health leaders. Women’s health is not a side issue. It is a global priority.