Bill Gates on Gates Foundation: We make it clear that it is not our role to say, OK, the US government wants to save money, so we will ...
Gates Foundation recently announced $2.5 billion commitment over the next five years to advance women's health initiatives worldwide. The funding aims to fuel dozens of projects, from life-saving maternal medicines to vaccines targeting infections that hit women hardest. The pledge marks a roughly 33% jump in the foundation's investments in women's and maternal health compared to the prior half-decade. It is the largest funding commitment the Gates Foundation has made in women’s health. The pledge also is a sign of the areas where Bill Gates wants to focus on as he seeks to donate the vast majority of his $114 billion fortune before winding down the foundation over the next 20 years. Gates spoke about the pledge during an event with STAT this week.
The vast majority of the funds — as much as 70% — will go to research and development. About a tenth will go to market introduction of new technologies or generating better data around them. Only about 4% will go to manufacturing, and 3% to advocacy. "It's curious why some of these areas are so under-invested, because the rich world health burden on preeclampsia specifically is still, you know, very high," Gates remarked during a briefing, highlighting one of the hypertensive disorders that claim thousands of women's lives annually, even in wealthy nations.
The portfolio brims with high-tech promise. Backed by the foundation's dollars will be self-injectable contraceptives for easier access, long-lasting contraceptive patches, lightning-fast diagnostics for STIs, and deep dives into the human microbiome's role in everything from pregnancy complications to broader women's health challenges, including disease transmission.
Bill Gates: Cannot replace government funding
Yet Gates was clear-eyed about the foundation's boundaries. "One thing we make very clear is we're not able to replace what the U.S. government has canceled," he said, nodding to recent federal budget trims in global health programs. Gates told STAT, "It's just not our role to say, OK, the U.S. government wants to save money and so we'll help them do that."
In fields like malaria, tuberculosis, and non-hormonal birth control, the Gates Foundation already reigns as the world's top funder, Gates noted. Its R&D bets will yield lasting innovations that outlive the organization's support. But for on-the-ground health delivery, the clock is ticking: The foundation's aid is designed to be temporary, hinging on sustainable handoffs to other players.
Even with Gates' immense wealth as a backstop, he stressed the need for collective action. A core aim, he and his team emphasized, is to ignite urgency among governments, pharmaceutical giants, and researchers to prioritize women's health disparities—long overlooked despite their outsized toll.
"We'd love to have other people work on this stuff," Gates said. "It's crazy that this stuff isn't better funded. Drawing governments and other philanthropists in—we've had some success at that, and I'm putting more time into talking with other philanthropists about how impactful this work is. So I think we'll have a lot of additional partnerships, certainly at the end of the 20 years."
"Then we're gone," he added pointedly, "and so other people will have to step up in these areas.
"As the foundation accelerates its sunset strategy, this women's health push underscores a pivotal shift: from lone-wolf giving to catalyzing a broader ecosystem. With maternal deaths still claiming a life every two minutes globally, advocates hailed the commitment as a vital spark—one that could, if multiplied, finally bend the arc toward equity.
The vast majority of the funds — as much as 70% — will go to research and development. About a tenth will go to market introduction of new technologies or generating better data around them. Only about 4% will go to manufacturing, and 3% to advocacy. "It's curious why some of these areas are so under-invested, because the rich world health burden on preeclampsia specifically is still, you know, very high," Gates remarked during a briefing, highlighting one of the hypertensive disorders that claim thousands of women's lives annually, even in wealthy nations.
Bill Gates No Longer among Top 10 Billionaires: The Real Reason
The portfolio brims with high-tech promise. Backed by the foundation's dollars will be self-injectable contraceptives for easier access, long-lasting contraceptive patches, lightning-fast diagnostics for STIs, and deep dives into the human microbiome's role in everything from pregnancy complications to broader women's health challenges, including disease transmission.
Bill Gates: Cannot replace government funding
Yet Gates was clear-eyed about the foundation's boundaries. "One thing we make very clear is we're not able to replace what the U.S. government has canceled," he said, nodding to recent federal budget trims in global health programs. Gates told STAT, "It's just not our role to say, OK, the U.S. government wants to save money and so we'll help them do that."
In fields like malaria, tuberculosis, and non-hormonal birth control, the Gates Foundation already reigns as the world's top funder, Gates noted. Its R&D bets will yield lasting innovations that outlive the organization's support. But for on-the-ground health delivery, the clock is ticking: The foundation's aid is designed to be temporary, hinging on sustainable handoffs to other players.
Even with Gates' immense wealth as a backstop, he stressed the need for collective action. A core aim, he and his team emphasized, is to ignite urgency among governments, pharmaceutical giants, and researchers to prioritize women's health disparities—long overlooked despite their outsized toll.
"We'd love to have other people work on this stuff," Gates said. "It's crazy that this stuff isn't better funded. Drawing governments and other philanthropists in—we've had some success at that, and I'm putting more time into talking with other philanthropists about how impactful this work is. So I think we'll have a lot of additional partnerships, certainly at the end of the 20 years."
"Then we're gone," he added pointedly, "and so other people will have to step up in these areas.
"As the foundation accelerates its sunset strategy, this women's health push underscores a pivotal shift: from lone-wolf giving to catalyzing a broader ecosystem. With maternal deaths still claiming a life every two minutes globally, advocates hailed the commitment as a vital spark—one that could, if multiplied, finally bend the arc toward equity.
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