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4w ago

Melinda French Gates Pledges $215 Million to Expand Women’s Health Funding

This move aims to expand clinician training and services to close shortfalls caused by weak public research, limited government funding.

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FILE - Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, poses for photographers as she arrives for a meeting after a meeting on the sideline of the gender equality conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, July 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
Melinda French Gates touring a former abortion clinic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her grant helped the clinic reopen to provide other women's health services after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Melinda French Gates is throwing her weight behind menopause research and care, part of a new $215 million commitment to women's health.

Overview

  • The pledge, announced June 4, 2026, adds $215 million through Pivotal and raises French Gates’ two‑year giving for women’s health to more than $600 million with a focus on contraception, maternal care and midlife health.
  • Pivotal is directing $40 million to Co‑Impact to embed mental‑health support into maternal and primary care programs, with a priority on projects in Africa.
  • A separate $10 million grant to The Menopause Society will fund evidence‑based clinician education and outreach to areas of the United States with poor access to menopause‑competent care.
  • Advocates cite large provider and research gaps — Dr. Stephanie Faubion says roughly 6,000 U.S. counties lack menopause‑competent clinicians — which the grants aim to address by scaling training and resources.
  • French Gates says the gifts are meant to 'send a signal' to other funders because women‑specific health issues get little private funding (about 2% by one estimate) and private support is increasingly needed given reduced public research and health funding; the next measure of success will be whether other philanthropists and governments increase investment.