AP
Melinda French Gates Expands Giving to Boost Women’s Health Worldwide","description":"A $215 million pledge from Pivotal Ventures will fund contraceptive access, maternal care, and menopause research.","summary":"Philanthropist Melinda French Gates announced a $215 million donation to enhance women’s health globally. The funds will support reproductive health programs, maternal care initiatives across Africa, and bolster research and outreach for menopause care in the U.S. With her total commitments exceeding $600 million in two years, Gates aims to spotlight underfunded women’s health issues.","image":"https://picsum.photos/seed/melinda-gates/800/600","text":"<div style='font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height:1.6; color:#333;'>\n<p>Philanthropist <a href='https://apnews.com/hub/melinda-french-gates' style='color:#0057b8; text-decoration:none;'>Melinda French Gates</a> will expand her giving to improve women’s health globally, pledging another $215 million to support contraceptive access and maternal care, as well as initiatives aimed at middle‑aged women, including further study of menopause.</p>\n<p>The new funding announced Thursday pushes her donations for women’s health over $600 million in the past two years.</p>\n<p>She told The Associated Press that women’s health is the cornerstone of the work she does through <a href='https://apnews.com/hub/pivotal-ventures' style='color:#0057b8; text-decoration:none;'>Pivotal</a>, the group of organizations she founded to handle her philanthropy and investments. “It’s just blaringly obvious that women’s health is fundamental — she has to be well to do well in life,” she said.</p>\n<p>Since 2024, when she <a href='https://apnews.com/article/melinda-french-gates-bill-gates-pivotal-ventures-884c071a595593c4c794b5b65d407f8b' style='color:#0057b8; text-decoration:none;'>stepped away from The Gates Foundation</a>, she has honed her approach to supporting women.</p>\n<p>This round includes a $40 million donation to <a href='https://g.co/co-impact' style='color:#0057b8; text-decoration:none;'>Co‑Impact</a> for an initiative that embeds mental‑health support into maternal and primary care in Africa, and a $10 million gift to the <a href='https://www.themenopausesociety.org/' style='color:#0057b8; text-decoration:none;'>Menopause Society</a> to improve care in the U.S., by educating clinicians and expanding outreach to underserved areas.</p>\n<p>According to the World Economic Forum, even though women make up half the population, the health issues that specifically affect them only get <a href='https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/05/womens-health-in-numbers/' style='color:#0057b8; text-decoration:none;' target='_blank'>2% of private healthcare funds</a>. The lack of funding has resulted in a lack of products and services dedicated to treating them.</p>\n<p>“The role of philanthropy, in my opinion, is to look at some of these societal problems that have been left behind, and shine light on them, show ways of making progress so you can then crowd in other donors and ultimately crowd in government funding,” she said. “Part of what I’m doing here, I hope, is sending a signal to say, ‘This is really important. Let’s do something about it.’ And my hope is that I’ll be able to get others who will join me.”</p>\n<p>Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of The Menopause Society and director of The Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health, said the U.S. currently has about 6,000 counties where patients have critically low access to menopause‑competent clinicians. The donation will allow the organization to offer educational resources to more areas that need them.</p>\n<p>“Menopause remains one of the most overlooked and underserved areas in medicine, and The Menopause Society believes women deserve better,” Faubion said. “We’re ready to make those changes with the support of donors like Pivotal.”</p>\n<p>Research into menopause treatments was already underfunded, even before recent <a href='https://apnews.com/article/nih-funding-cuts-32b9b7bad01457a5412af26e394e3735' style='color:#0057b8; text-decoration:none;'>medical research cuts</a> made by President Donald Trump’s administration went into effect.</p>\n<p>“I think philanthropy is going to fill a greater role than it ever has in the past because we are just not going to have the same type of government funding … it’s much, much harder than before. And the need hasn’t gotten away,” she said.</p>\n<p>She added that the size of the gift is important, but the attention it brings may be even more crucial.</p>\n<p>“It shows that somebody like Melinda Gates and Pivotal feel that this is an important issue,” Faubion said. “It will illuminate the gaps that are still there…and it makes people not only aware, but maybe motivated to take some action.”</p>\n<p>For French Gates, bringing more attention to these women’s issues is nearly as important as increasing funding for them.</p>\n<p>“I want women’s health issues to be not invisible,” she said. “I don’t want the default to be that women are expected to deal with pain and suffering. I want them to be seen for what they’re going through, their real life experiences, and have those issues addressed so they can live their very best lives.”</p>\n<p>The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage of women in the workforce and in statehouses from Pivotal.</p>\n</div>
