08-08-2025
The Gates Foundation commits $2.5B to women's health
Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a lovely week. Reach out and say hello: klong@ and ecordover@ This week we're talking about investments in women's health research and development.
The Gates Foundation said Monday it will commit $2.5 billion to women's health research and development through 2030, prioritizing low- and middle-income countries. It's a significant investment for an area that has received minimal funding or attention for decades.
'I'm proud that we're doing this,' Dr. Anita Zaidi, president of the Gates Foundation Gender Equity Division, tells Women Rule. 'But in the context of how much is needed, it's a small amount.'
The Gates Foundation, launched in 2000 by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, has contributed funding to a number of organizations focused on health care, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization. Melinda French Gates resigned from the foundation in 2024 but has since pledged $1 billion to tackle systemic issues impacting women and girls.
The $2.5 billion investment builds upon the organization's existing philanthropic work dedicated to women's health innovation. The investment will focus on five areas, all housed within the reproductive care sphere. Among those are improvements to obstetric care and maternal immunization, as well as expanding the accessibility and effectiveness of contraceptives. But despite the hefty price tag, the investment is a small step forward for an industry that has a lot of catching up to do. A mere 5 percent of global research and development funding was allocated toward women's health care in 2020.
'That really bothers me, the lack of understanding of the biological process for women's bodies, which are very different than male bodies, and we have not invested in that,' Zaidi says. 'So a lot of this is also just understanding basic biology and doing all of that research.'
She attributes this lack of understanding to failures to include women in clinical research and conduct research with gender differences in mind. The inclusion of women in clinical research was not mandated until 1993 with the passage of the NIH Revitalization Act, which required women and minority communities to be incorporated into all clinical trials at the National Institute of Health.
Dr. Basmah Safdar, director of Women's Health Research at Yale, tells Women Rule that women's health has had a long history of shortcomings.
'NIH and other researchers have tried to change that dialogue … and some of that needle has moved,' Safdar says. 'But particularly at a time like this when there is the need to continue that kind of work, the Gates Foundation is filling one part of that gap.'
The investment also comes at a time when federal research grants in the U.S. are seeing sizable cuts. The Trump administration has cut over $1 billion in NIH grants this year, and President Donald Trump's initiative to eliminate any policies promoting 'diversity, equity and inclusion' has sparked concerns over the future of women's health research funding.
Despite the significant investment, Zaidi says it can't fill the gaps in women's health research that the U.S. government has created.
'No foundation or groups of foundations can match the amount of funding and leadership that the U.S. government has provided historically on fighting diseases, poverty and malnutrition around the world, and enabling innovation for global health,' Zaidi says.
Kathryn Schubert, president of the Society for Women's Health Research, tells Women Rule she is heartened by the investments made by the philanthropic community towards women's health research, given recent federal funding cuts.
Schubert says there is a lot of confusion among researchers at her organization — many of which are NIH funded — over whether their grants will continue.
'I think it's really critical for philanthropic investment to step in and assist where it can,' Schubert says. 'I would hope that any investment in women's health that comes at this level would also be sure to look at the needs here in the U.S., not just outside the U.S.'
While the foundation is prioritizing global improvements to women's health research and not specifically focusing on the U.S., Zaidi argues the benefits will be 'positive for women everywhere.'
'When I was lucky enough to be asked to set up and think through what the Gender Equity Division would do, this was my biggest priority, that I really want to spark a new era in health that focuses on women's bodies and women's needs,' Zaidi says.
POLITICO Special Report
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'God's not done with South Carolina and neither am I,' Mace wrote in an X post announcing the launch. 'You and me. Our mission begins now.'
Mace (R-S.C.), who is in her third term in Congress, has branded herself as a protector of women's rights.'
Kamala Harris Has Misgivings About Government. Some Dems Have Misgivings About Her. by Dustin Gardiner, Melanie Mason, Elena Schneider, Brakkton Booker and Jeff Coltin for POLITICO: 'Kamala Harris didn't shut the door on another White House bid when she announced she isn't running for California governor. But she vented about the limitations of government, telling Late Show host Stephen Colbert on Thursday that she doesn't 'want to go back in the system' for now.
Many Democrats feel the same about Harris.
Interviews with nearly two dozen Democratic officials and operatives following her announcement this week reflect a swath of the party that would be glad if Harris didn't run in 2028. Moreover, they hope she'll stay on the sidelines in the midterms.'
'Icy Cool': How Claudia Sheinbaum is Navigating Trump's New World Order by Megan Messerly for POLITICO: 'Mexico has been in President Donald Trump's crosshairs over border security and fentanyl for more than a decade. Yet it is the sole country to win a 90-day extension on trade talks, after steep penalties on dozens of other countries kicked in Thursday.
The reprieve reflects several months of behind-the-scenes work by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to cultivate a solid relationship with the ever-mercurial Trump. While the two have yet to meet in person, after a planned sit-down in Canada at the G7 summit in June was scuttled, they talk regularly on the phone.'
Number of the Week
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Democratic Women in the House Are Trying to Grow Their Ranks to 100 by Grace Panetta for The 19th: 'Democrats are aiming to win back the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms, and [Elect Democratic Women] believes their path to doing it runs through women candidates: They have an ambitious goal of having 100 Democratic women simultaneously serving in the U.S. House in 2027. (There are currently 94 voting House Democratic women; five are retiring or seeking higher office in 2026). …
The PAC supported 129 women running for office in the 2024 cycle, including 16 incumbents reelected to battleground House districts, 17 new Democratic women elected to the caucus and three new women elected to the U.S. Senate: Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.'
'She Stood Up to Men with Machetes': Sandra Domínguez Fought Against Femicide in Mexico — Then Became a Victim Herself by Thomas Graham for The Guardian: 'Sandra and her husband, Alexander Hernández, might have gone down as two more victims of the violence that grips Mexico, where roughly 30,000 people are murdered each year. But this time the case shot to national attention.
Sandra was a feminist activist, known for helping the families of disappeared women and for twice rocking the political establishment in Oaxaca by denouncing powerful men involved in misogynistic WhatsApp groups.'
Uber's Festering Sexual Assault Problem by Emily Steel for The New York Times: 'Uber helped revolutionize global transportation by connecting strangers for shared travel. Millions of people hail cars with its app every day. The company has long maintained that the vast majority of its trips in the United States — 99.9 percent — occur without an incident of any kind. But because Uber operates at such a large scale, a fraction of a percent can translate into many attacks.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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on the move
Amanda Hunter is now vice president of communications at the Women's Suffrage National Monument Foundation. She previously served as executive director of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation and was senior press representative at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Kristi Johnson is now comms director for Jordan Wood's Senate campaign in Maine. She previously was rapid response director for the Kamala Harris campaign in Wisconsin and was national press secretary at NextGen America. (h/t POLITICO Influence)
Paula Huff is now deputy director of scheduling in the office of the secretary at the Labor Department. She most recently was director of operations for Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.). (h/t POLITICO Playbook)
