Philanthropist Melinda French Gates has pledged $215 million in new funding for women’s health and called for greater accountability in addressing long-standing gaps in care for women. Speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview in London, she said progress should be measured over the next four to five years to determine whether women’s access to treatment is genuinely improving.

She said the world remains significantly behind on women’s health and argued that governments must invest more in research, prevention and data collection. Better evidence is needed to persuade policymakers to prioritise the issue and direct resources where they can have the greatest impact, she added. “Measuring matters,” she said. “Let’s come back and measure this in four or five years.”

Health gaps hurting women’s careers

The announcement came alongside new Gallup-Pivotal research highlighting how health challenges shape women’s personal and professional lives. The study found that more than four in 10 women in the UK said their health had prevented them from doing everything they wanted to do, while 34 per cent said health issues had stopped them from reaching their full potential at work. Among women who had experienced menopause or perimenopause, 58 per cent said the transition had negatively affected their life or career in at least one way. French Gates noted that the economic consequences can be severe because perimenopause and menopause often arrive when women are approaching the peak of their careers; many report taking time off work and consulting multiple doctors before receiving appropriate care. Health challenges, she said, can become “an off-ramp to their dreams”.

A push for sustained investment

The latest commitment, announced through her organisation Pivotal, will support efforts ranging from reproductive health and contraceptive access to menopause-related research and care. It takes French Gates’ total philanthropic support for women’s health to more than $600 million over the past two years. She said stigma continues to be a major barrier – particularly around menopause – and urged governments, health systems and funders to increase investment in an area that has historically been underfunded. Drawing on her work in Africa, she added that the need extends well beyond wealthy nations: when women can plan their families and lead healthy lives, communities around them flourish too. Since stepping away from the Gates Foundation, French Gates has increasingly focused on women’s health as essential to economic opportunity, leadership and broader equality.